[OKC] FW: 4-H Green Friends Gardening After School Club Teams Meeting Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thu Mar 4 10:11:56 PST 2010

This is a great project! Please help spread the word!

From: Sue and Tom [mailto:ttarr at sbcglobal.net] 
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 11:26 AM
To: Sue and Tom
Subject: 4-H Green Friends Gardening After School Club Teams Meeting
Thursday, March 11, 2010 

Hello,

You are receiving this information because of interest you have shown in
gardening and healthy nutrition for families. We are initiating pilot
programs for 4-H Green Friends Gardening After-School Clubs in OKC area
schools. 

We invite you and others you know will be interested to attend our Team
Meeting on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 4 p.m. to assist in developing the
different components for the 4-H Gardening After-School Clubs.

Minutes from our start up meeting on 3-1-10 with agencies are attached to
this email to give you an overview of where we are heading.

This Oklahoma initiative began with a conversation with U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture Tom Vilsack, when he was in Oklahoma.

I spoke with U.S. Secretary of  Agriculture Tom Vilsack at the Rural Forum
in Oklahoma about grants to 4-H for edible gardening after-school clubs that
would meet 5 days a week. Vilsack's enthusiastic 4 minute response can be
viewed at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LydoHhxscU

I also gave Vilsack a letter detailing the benefits to families, schools and
communities after school garden clubs would create.(See Attachment to this
email)

Conversations about this have stirred many others interest in pursuing
possibilities for 4-H after school edible garden clubs. On March 1, 2010 we
had a Core Group Coalition Building Meeting with 20+ participants from major
government agencies, organizations and school districts who promote
gardening, nutrition and stewardship for our environment with youth. Our
intention is to begin 2, 4-H after school edible garden pilot programs. They
will meet 5 days a week from 3-6 p.m. in Oklahoma City area schools starting
in August 2010.

Below is information about and an invitation for you to attend our Team
Meeting Thursday, March 11, 2010:

Hello 4-H Green Friends Gardening Club Core Group,

What a productive meeting we had March 1, 2010! This is networking and
collaboration at its finest. Our coalition is off to a great start. (Minutes
are attached to this email). Thanks to all who attended for their important
contributions to making this initiative a reality. 

Thank you for signing up to be on a team to assist in developing a component
of the 4-H Green Friends Gardening After-School Clubs. 

We ask that you also invite people to be a part of your team and other teams
who you know have an interest in after-school gardening. 

Your assisting on a team to develop one of our Team Components will be
networking, collaboration and cooperation at its best. We don't need to
re-invent the wheel. You have the information, curriculum and data needed to
create this 4-H program. Our community and others will benefit from the
start up procedures, video documenting and manual for this that we are
creating.

Our Teams will meet Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 4 till 6 p.m. at the
Oklahoma County OSU Extension Center, located at 930 N. Portland Ave,
Oklahoma City, OK 73017.  We are the single story, buff brick building with
black and orange trim, and are located just North of the double drive
entrance to the OSU Oklahoma City Campus, on the East Side of Portland Ave.
(Just South of the Intersection of 10th and Portland).   We have parking on
the North side of our building and on the South Side.

Park on the East side of the building and enter the classroom from the
outside of the building. The North Classroom is located on the North East
Corner of the Building.

We will connect primarily through emails after the initial start up meeting
for your team on March 11, 2010.

At the team meeting you and your team will prepare a draft of a vision
statement and mission statement for your team's component. After the meeting
we will email these to your team to refine. Your team will then present the
final statements at our OKC Community Forum Thursday, April 8, 2010 which
will be attended by 200+ teachers, parents, youth and community leaders and
members. We would like each team to present some examples of the impact
their component will have on youth, and inspiring ideas or results that can
happen. Collecting additional information through emails to support your
team's component will make it easy to cut and paste information into a
document that can become part of a training manual. 

We also ask that you begin emailing us possible activities and ideas you
have. We will make these available to your team by email, and your ideas
will spark others ideas and assist you in your area. Each team will be
contributing to a collaborative manual for starting 4-H Gardening clubs, and
you will receive recognition for your contribution to the manual.

Listed below are the 8 Teams for the different Components. 

Please invite others to play on one or more of these teams to assist in
creating 4-H Gardening After-School Clubs:

Criteria for school selection Team:

Start up, creation of the garden space and ongoing expansion Team:

Securing funding and grants Team:

Hands on gardening and exercise Team:

Gardening education Team: 

Snacks, nutritional and cooking Team:

Building children's cooperation and leadership skills Team:

Vegetable marketing and community building Team:

This is an idea whose time has come! If we all do a little we will
accomplish a lot!

Please call if you need more information or have any questions.

Sincerely,

Sue Tarr 

405-478-2480

405-818-9676 cell

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