Gardening and Cooking Program

1005 Parker St, Berkeley, CA 94710
Phone: 510-486-9350

Benjamin Goff, Program Supervisor
benjamingoff@berkeley.net

The Berkeley Public School Gardening and Cooking Program is woven into student life District-wide to ensure the academic, physical, emotional, and social development of all students from preschool through high school. We engage all learners with hands-on instruction as they cultivate positive relationships with the world around them and their peers.

Our goal is to enable and inspire our diverse student body to achieve academic excellence and make positive contributions to our world!

Program Curriculum

We’ve developed a Garden-Based Learning Curriculum, © Berkeley Unified School District, that directly supports ̽��app learning and teaching goals. Each lesson is designed to be an interactive teaching tool, co-taught with classroom teachers and garden instructors as leads. These hands-on lessons 1) connect academics to real-world experiences; 2) include all learners; 3) invite curiosity; and 4) provide opportunities for reflection.

Download Complete Curriculum Package:

Download Specific Lessons:
Click through the live hyperlinked scope and sequence to download or print out only the lessons that you are looking for.

Printer-friendly versions are black & white and do not include posters, diagrams, or cards in the Resources section. Please check out the cover page of each link to learn more about the curriculum, including the intention, design, and user guides.

“Garden is a magical place, great that kids get to see it develop over the year, do so many tastings, and activities in the packets are great. Instructor clearly loves her work and showing what she knows to kids.”
– ̽��app Classroom Teacher

“We have 4 Garden Specialists who teach in 8 gardens from TK-8th grade. We use the Berkeley curriculum daily in our lessons. We have enjoyed many of the hands on activities and the “workbooks” which we have turned into garden journals. Some of our favorite activities are the water cycle, composition of soil, beneficial and non-beneficial insects (always a hit with the students) and FBI.”
– Garden Coordinator, Ukiah Unified School District.

“I can’t tell you enough how the curriculum has been a help and an inspiration to us. I love to garden, but I don’t have teacher training, so having rubric-based plans and ideas is SO helpful. Keep up the great work.”
– Seeds of Hope, Wilson, NC

“I learned how to check if there are added sugars or natural sugars in your beverage by looking at the ingredients on the bottle.”
– Middle School Student

Career Technical Education in Public Health

Students at Berkeley High School and Berkeley Technology Academy are offered courses in Career Technical Education (CTE) in Public Health; and students at Willard and Longfellow Middle School are offered CTE in gardening and cooking and Growing Leaders electives This year-long course focuses on career and learning opportunities for better understanding diet-related disease and local policy intended to curtail health inequities. Students practice communication and collaboration skills, while building confidence as problem-solvers.

“Facilitating the food pantries has overall given me a great working experience. I really get to use my communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. I also get the opportunity to learn about others’ living situations, lifestyles, and preferences when they choose to share about it and it fills my heart with even more compassion for the people that are able to benefit from it in the Bay Area. In sum, I have a lot of pride to be a part of the food pantries at Berkeley High. I’ve gotten to strengthen and build my relationships with my peers and mentors while also gaining valuable work experience. I’m really grateful to be working with such a great organization and great people!”
– ̽��app High School Student

Food Pantries are Available Free to the Public

Program staff and students studying Public and Community Health manage the high school food pantries in partnership with Berkeley Food Network and Growing Leaders. Together, we are able to provide fresh produce, ready made meals, and pantry items for free to our school and City community. Students get real-world experience working with the community on healthy food access and are paid hourly as part of their Career Technical Education internship.

The Berkeley Technology Academy food pantry is in service every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 2701 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The Berkeley High School food pantry is in service on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month from 3:00-4:00 pm on MLK between Bancroft and Allston Way.

Funding

These projects are funded through a grant with matching dollars from ̽��app General Fund, from California Department of Education (CDE), from The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), in partnership with the CDE, and California Department of Food and Agriculture . Supporting projects are funded through generous grants from our community and with donations from our community.

Donate Now

Your financial gift will support our work in serving ̽��app students in the gardens and kitchen classrooms. We rely on generous donations to provide additional support for innovative projects that uplift students’ learning. You can send your check payable to: Attn: Jezra Thompson, Gardening & Cooking Program, 1005 Parker St Berkeley, CA 94710. In the memo section of the check, please add “Gardening & Cooking Program.”

Volunteer With Us

Volunteers are an important part of our work. Whether it is garden maintenance, instructional support, or event assistance, please consider volunteering your time by visiting the to fill out the form for volunteering and specify that you’d like to volunteer with us.

Reports and Special Committees

Social Media

Our program supports these three pillars:

Academic Achievement: Garden and Cooking educators work closely with teachers to bring classroom learning to life in the garden with a place-based, interdisciplinary, and experiential approach to the academic standards.

Increased Health: Teaching students that taking care of the land and your body allows for the development of multiple intelligences integral to whole child education.

Essential Life Skills: Students practice cultural competence and language development through project-based learning.

Watering tips: In order to find out if your plant needs water, stick your finger deep inside the soil, if it feels wet, don’t water it, if it feels dry, give it a good drink. Do this a few times a week, depending on the weather.
What to plant if you want to eat something growing in the garden now: If you want a quick turnaround for growing veggies, plant radishes! Radishes are the fastest growing vegetable.
When to harvest your veggies: Harvest foods (especially lettuce) in the early morning. They will be sweeter tasting from the cooler night air.
Planting tomatoes: Tomatoes have the ability to grow roots along their stems, so plant them right up to the first set of leaves!
Planting with small space and little light: Herbs, such as oregano and mint don’t need much to thrive other than a container with adequate drainage, water, and light for half the day.

5,796 Garden Classes provided each year
7,800 Students
18 Educators
17 School Gardens
Each student has class in the garden twice per month
2 CTE Public Health Programs
4 Kitchen Classrooms
6 family nights each year
120 family night participants
37% said they would reduce sugar intake after family class
Annually, 14 high school students complete over 400 hours in paid internships in public and community health.

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Suicide Prevention: Board Policy

Notification of Non-Discrimination Policy:

The Berkeley Unified School District is committed to providing equal opportunity for all individuals in district programs and activities. Accordingly, ̽��app programs and activities shall be free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying based on actual or perceived ancestry, age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression; nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. The Board shall promote programs which ensure that discriminatory practices are eliminated in all district activities. (Board Policy 0410, Board Policy 1311, Board Policy 4030, Board Policy 5145.3, Board Policy 5145.7)

The Board also prohibits retaliation against any district employee or job applicant who complains, testifies or in any way participates in the district's complaint procedures instituted pursuant to this policy. (Board Policy 4030)

Complaint forms are available at school sites and on the district webpage at www.berkeleyschools.net/complaints.

For inquiries or concerns regarding ̽��app nondiscrimination policy or the filing of discrimination complaints please contact:
Jasmina Viteskic, Title IX Coordinator/Compliance Officer
2020 Bonar Street Room 116, Berkeley, CA 94702
Phone: 510.486.9338 Email: nondiscrimination@berkeley.net

More information is available at www.berkeleyschools.net/non-discrimination/.

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