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At Doris Hancock
Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada,
an incredible experience is underway. The GATE (Gifted and Talented
Education) students are working alongside the Kindergarteners and
Special Education students to develop a school garden. Through planting,
maintaining, and tracking the growth of the vegetables and herbs in
the EarthBoxes they're using, students are able to learn about the
environment and how plants grow.
Students working with their
EarthBoxes at Doris Hancock Elementary, Las Vegas, NV.
This is a perfect example
of how both nature and nurture work together to provide students with
an optimal learning environment. Valuable, relevant hands-on
activities create the opportunity for the children to integrate core
curriculum with real world experiences. Relationships are being
fostered between students of various age and ability levels, while
they measure, observe, draw and journal about the plants and their
experiences together.
"This coming school year, we will integrate the nutrition aspect
of the program by incorporating a Healthy Hancock Hawk Cookbook with
recipes created by our students and families using the fruits,
vegetables, and herbs they grow in their EarthBoxes," reports
Hadassa Lefkowitz, the GATE specialist in charge of the EarthBox
project. "As our program and crops grow, we look forward to
using our EarthBoxes as a source for community service projects.
"Thanks,
EarthBox!"
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Want to win an EarthBox
gift certificate? Just send us your best EarthBox-related story, and
you might find yourself a winner.
Here are the categories we'd like you to shoot for:
- Helpful
stories that provide EarthBox owners with information
- Stories
about your use of EarthBoxes in the domestic community
- Stories
about the use of EarthBoxes in your school
- Stories
about how you're using EarthBoxes in the international
community
- Stories
on non-traditional uses of the EarthBox
Your
entry should be brief and to the point. We'll post the winners in an
upcoming issue of the newsletter.
Just
send your contest entries to photos@Earthbox.com, with the word
"contest" in the subject line, and we'll take a look!
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Send Us Your Photos and
Success
Stories!
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To
place an order, call
888-445-6295 (24/7)
or visit our online store.
Educators, please mention
the Source Code EDUDISC when ordering your EarthBox to be eligible for a free EarthBox Ready to Grow Kit! Winners will be selected
from our customer base and announced in each newsletter.
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Dear EarthBox Customer,
Welcome to the first issue of
By the Box, our
newsletter devoted specifically to EarthBox Education. Every other
month, we'll use this venue to bring you up to speed on how EarthBox
products are used in schools, in domestic communities, and
internationally as well. We'll also take a look at what's happening
in the busy Education section of the EarthBox Forum, and keep you posted
on relevant educational funding initiatives.
We hope you enjoy By the Box,
and we urge you to take a hand in its development by sending us story
ideas and posting in the Forum. And don't worry -- if you already
subscribe to our consumer newsletter, Inside the Box, you'll
still get your monthly dose of handy information on projects for
the EarthBox, stories about EarthBox educational use, info on top
retailers, and interesting customer anecdotes.
We'll be back with Issue #2 in March!
Happy Gardening,
Molly Philbin
Education Director
EarthBox, Inc.
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EarthBox in Our
Communities
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 "The EarthBox Garden
at the Discovery Center in Binghamton, New York
provides a focal point for several programs. At-risk youth grow
produce in EarthBoxes to learn to plant, nurture and harvest food
crops, while learning the names and nutritional value of the
vegetables. Then, they integrate their harvest into a history lesson
by using the vegetables to cook, serve and eat historically-related
meals like those served at Colonial Williamsburg at
Thanksgiving.
"In addition, EarthBoxes will be incorporated into the Story
Garden in the upcoming year. The Story Garden provides a magical
setting for young children to visit and relate the displayed plants
to the books that they read, or that are read to them by staff or
parents. The program interconnects the pleasures of the garden with
the pleasure of reading, and provides a foundation for a life-long
attraction to both.
"Students in many programs harvest crops to donate to CHOW, a
food pantry that feeds the hungry throughout the country."
Donna
Museum Educator
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EarthBox in Our World
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Earthbox growing systems have
been used successfully in education projects all over the globe. This
time, we'll hear from Bernard in Ghana.
 "I have learned how to
grow and care for vegetables like cabbages, carrots, garden eggs [an
eggplant native to Ghana],
tomatoes, green peppers and so on without using chemicals on
them. I was happy to learn because I know in the future I can
get a job from it."
Bernard Arko
School for the Deaf
Cape Coast, Ghana
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Funding Opportunities
Intel Schools of Distinction Awards
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Deadline: February 17,
2009
The Intel Schools of Distinction Awards recognize U.S.
schools that implement innovative, replicable programs that inspire
their students and lead to positive educational outcomes in the areas
of math and science.
We'd like to point out that
an EarthBox garden is a great place to integrate science and math,
just by observing and measuring the way the plants grow. If
you've maintained a classroom EarthBox garden in the past year, we
recommend you apply for an Intel award!
The awards program is open to
K-12 public, private, charter, and parochial schools in the Unites States, Department of Defense
Schools, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Finalists receive cash
grants of $2,500. Winners receive $10,000 cash grants and more than
$100,000 in products and services from sponsors. One of the
winners is chosen to receive an additional $15,000 in additional
products and services. For more information, and to apply, visit
Intel's website!
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Fresh from the
Forum
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 Check out this comparison of growing
technologies!
In the experiment, basil was grown in an EarthBox, in an Ebb &
Flow Hydroponics System, and in a static solution hydroponics kit.
Guess which one had the best results by far?
To learn more about this and other educational projects, click here to visit the Youth
Programs section of our Forum. We think you'll be very interested in
what you discover!
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FYI Tips
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Welcome to FYI Tips. Refer to
this section for a quick tip, information, advice, or facts from seed
to table in the classroom, the community and around the world!
FYI, did you know that
EarthBox has dedicated a place on our Forum to support teachers, instructors
and community leaders? Click here to
join. It's free! Next, just scroll down to "Education
Programs" and click on "Youth Programs" to read how a
teacher in Evanston, IL,
obtained a grant to promote and incorporate EarthBox Gardens
throughout her school district and community.
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About EarthBox
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The patented EarthBox was
developed by commercial farmers, and proven in the lab and on the
farm. Our maintenance-free, award-winning, high-tech growing system
controls soil conditions, eliminates guesswork, and more than doubles
the yield of a conventional garden -- with less fertilizer, less
water and virtually no effort. It's used successfully on a daily
basis by commercial farmers, educators, and consumers. Distributors
are also finding it to be a popular growing system.
EarthBox is a remarkably easy-to-set-up system that can be used to
grow produce virtually anywhere. Our systems have been
incorporated into community gardens all over the world, enabling
families and neighbors to share fresh produce, while minimizing work
and expenses.
EarthBoxes also make
excellent additions to the classroom. Our Pre-K through 12th
grade standards-based curriculum support packages can bring science
to life, with hands-on lessons that teach principles of growing and
nutrition utilizing the scientific method in student-driven
experiments.
To find out more about EarthBox's education programs, visit www.earthbox.com/education.
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