4-H Farm Food and Fitness Conference
Workshop Descriptions
Keynote Presentations
Finding That Spark: Expressive Identity and Thriving in Adolescence
Dr. Mary Arnold, 4-H Youth Development Specialist at Oregon State University will present an
overview of identity formation in adolescence and its importance in healthy development and
thriving in adolescence.
Dr. Mary Arnold is a Professor in College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State
University and 4-H Youth Development Specialist with the Oregon 4-H Program. Her areas of
emphasis are in adolescent development, positive youth development, and program development
and evaluation.
Gardens as Physical Activity Spaces
There is increasing attention and evidence for a positive relation between the amount of green
space in the living environment and people's health and well-being. This presentation will help
participants see school gardens as more than a site for growing food.
Dr. Debra John, OSU Extension Faculty in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences
Debra’s academic and scholarly efforts have focused on healthful eating and activity, active
aging, and active living communities. She employs community-based participatory research
methods and tools to examine how attributes of people interact with attributes of place across
social ecological level to differently influence health behaviors and outcomes. She is the Project
Director of a $4.8 million NIH funded project, Growing Healthy Kids,
School Gardens Track
Garden Design for Teaching
Conventional garden wisdom and practice suggest that long garden rows and straight lines are
ideal for producing fruits and veggies, but do they produce critical and creative minds? In this
session we will explore gardens as safe and supportive learning-scapes. Topics will include
design patterns, permaculture learning environments, maintenance for unconventional designs,
and more.
Liana Harden, OSU Extension Growing Health Kids Research Assistant: The daughter of a
naturalist, Liana was raised touring and exploring the biodiversity of North America. She has
taught garden-based education, developed garden-based curriculum, and engaged diverse
communities in gardening at the Learning Gardens Lab in Portland, Oregon and in the Delta
Garden Study, a program addressing childhood obesity in the Mississippi River Delta in rural
Arkansas. In that role she taught middle school science and health through gardening, as well as
collaborating on the development of school garden programs in public schools across the state.
Currently, she supports the GROW Healthy Kids and Communities study at OSU Extension by
collaborating with school and community groups to implement health initiatives in Columbia
County, such as Farm to School education programs, school gardens, nature trails, and more.
Healthy Soils-Healthy Plants
Learn how to assess soil quality for vegetable gardening and how to improve soil structure for
healthy plants. Gain practical knowledge including how to take a soil test and how to interpret
the results as well as the importance of soil temperature in vegetable gardening.
1
Weston Miller, OSU Extension Community and Urban Horticulturist
Weston Miller has served as Community and Urban Horticulturist for OSU Extension Service since
2007 providing practical and relevant education on all aspects of growing and caring for plants in
community settings. In his free time, Weston enjoys gardening and hiking with his family in SW
Portland.
Gardening for Educators
School garden projects are not just for springtime! This session will give participants the
fundamental nuts-and-bolts of gardening, with a focus on how to plan a year round, full circle
educational garden. Learn about the best plants and varieties to use for educational gardens.
Develop a basic planting calendar to plan your lessons around throughout the year.
Beret Halverson, OSU Extension Food Gardens and Systems Program Manager
Beret Halverson is the Food Gardens and Systems program manager for the OSU Extension Family
and Community Health Program in Clackamas County. Beret is the county lead on the GROW
Healthy Kids and Communities rural obesity research and prevention program, she also coteaches in the Plot-to-Plate food resource management program, traveling to several limited
resource community gardens across the county to deliver gardening education, to underserved
audiences. Beret has worked with Extension for 4 years, beginning as a program coordinator with
the Portland Metro area Urban and Community Horticulture program. Beret’s previous education
and experience includes a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont and a
Masters in Public Administration from PSU
Working with Your School District- Guidelines for Outdoor spaces
Every school district has a Facilities Department responsible for what happens to the campus
buildings and grounds. The Resource Conservation Coordinator from Portland Public Schools
Facilities Department will discuss the process used in PPS to submit a request to install a garden
and get that approved, and then get the food into the cafeteria. Come learn what works well in
PPS, and might help the process in other districts.
Nancy Bond, Portland Public Schools Nancy Bond has been the Resource Conservation
Coordinator at Portland Public Schools for more than 14 years, developing programs designed to
reduce the district’s environmental footprint, to change behavior and save utility dollars via waste
reduction, energy conservation and storm water management. Her work has saved PPS more
than $8 million. As an avid urban gardener, Nancy delights in being the first point of contact for
school groups wanting to start gardens and plant trees, helping them understand and integrated
best practices to ensure successful and long-lived projects. Nancy holds an M.A. in Sociology.
Incorporating Chicken and Poultry sustainability Projects as Part of your Eco School Design
Raising a small flock of chickens is becoming a popular pastime for many urban and rural
families and now even some schools – all part of the growing local food movement. Whether
raising chickens to produce eggs or meat for their families to save money, live more sustainably,
or simply know where their food comes from are some of the reasons for this growing
movement. Others choose to have chickens to eat insects in the lawn and garden; others simply
appreciate watching the birds in their yard, which can be a relaxing and sometimes comical
sight. Chickens can offer insights into the basic life processes and simple behaviors of another
species. This workshop will introduce participants to the basic steps involved in starting a
poultry project in your school or community including location, health and safety of your
chickens, choosing a chicken breed, composting with chickens and more.
2
Jordis Yost, OSU Extension Metro Master Gardener Program Coordinator: Jordis started
working with OSU Extension soon after both she and her husband Michael moved to 10 acres in
the rural area of Corbett Oregon. In 1992 she became an OSU Master Gardener where she
volunteered for several years and became a staff member as a Master Gardener Program
Assistant and later became the Program Coordinator for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington
Counties. Jordis became interested in having chickens over 20 years ago and has learned from
personal experience and research how to manage a home flock and enjoy the delights of caring
for the birds. She and Michael created a lovely chicken coop that was a feature item in both
Better Homes and Gardens magazine and the Oregonian’s Homes and Gardens.
Growing Whole Grains in the Garden for teaching Healthy Living
Raising grains such as wheat, spelt, oats, rice, buckwheat, barley, millet, and rye in your school
garden doesn’t require any special machinery, and you may be surprised at how little space it
takes to grow a substantial supply of homegrown grains. Though we often are not use to
thinking of grains as food directly derived from the plant, the way we view fruits and vegetables,
whole grains are an important part of a healthy diet and is easy to grow. Learn how grains
grown in a school garden is a fun and educational project for children. This workshop will take
participants from planting to harvesting, threshing, winnowing and finally grinding the grain.
Stephanie Rooney, Sunnyside Environmental School Garden Coordinator: Stephanie has been
the school garden coordinator at Sunnyside Environmental School for the past several years. Her
successful 3rd grade Grains garden is a popular program at Sunnyside Environmental School.
School Garden Consultants 101
Interested in hiring a Garden Consultant for your school? Ever wondered what this takes, what
the logistics of it are, or how to create a systemic Garden to Classroom experience? Come join
Aliesje M. King , 4-H volunteer leader and also Director of Portland Earth Art and Agriculture
Project as she explains the basics of hiring a School Garden Consultant for your school
community.
Aliesje King, OSU Extension 4-H Volunteer and Program Director of Portland Earth Art and
Agriculture Project. Aliesje enjoys playing in the soil and learning the Natural World. This
typically takes place through gardening, exploring, and anything that involves spending time
outside. Her background is in various forms of education including ecological and environmental
education. She is a graduate of the Teton Science School Graduate Program, and received her
Masters of Education in Ecology and Agriculture at Prescott College. She is the Program Director
and co-founder of Portland Earth Art and Agriculture Project and coordinates school garden
programs in several Portland Public Schools.
The power of Saving Seeds
Many school gardens end the growing season with a few plants “bolting” before they can be
used for classes or given to the community. This workshop focuses on the beauty of saving
seeds from so-called bolted plants. Additionally it gives some helpful hints on which plants to
start the Seed Saving adventure with and how to create lesson plans around Seed Saving. Learn
how to teach students to harvest, dry, and save seeds from your garden for the following
growing seasons
Aliesje King, OSU Extension 4-H Volunteer and Program Director of Portland Earth Art and
Agriculture Project. Aliesje enjoys playing in the soil and learning the Natural World. This
3
typically takes place through gardening, exploring, and anything that involves spending time
outside. Her background is in various forms of education including ecological and environmental
education. She is a graduate of the Teton Science School Graduate Program, and received her
Masters of Education in Ecology and Agriculture at Prescott College. She is the Program Director
and co-founder of Portland Earth Art and Agriculture Project and coordinates school garden
program.
4-H School Garden Website Templates for promoting your Program
Build success for your project by using the simple tips and guidelines for establishing a good
working relationship within your school community. Resource Libraries, Project notebooks,
bulletin boards and signage are all methods for keeping the school community informed of the
project and helps inspire others to get involved. A clear understanding of school district
guidelines for creating and maintaining gardens on school grounds is also critical. Though school
district guidelines may vary from district to district, there are several important guidelines that
are followed by most school districts.
Maureen Hosty, OSU Extension 4-H Faculty, Metro Area. Maureen has been working with
schools and school gardens for the past 19 years in the Portland Metro area and statewide. She
has provided leadership to a team of 4-H staff and volunteers to support and train a cadre of
trained Master Volunteers to create, design, use and sustain school gardens for teaching across
all areas for the curriculum
Foods and Fitness Track
Food Safe Garden Practices.
Best approaches for maintaining the wholesome nature of your garden harvest.
Learn to identify potential risks and establish commonsense practices that will minimize the
chance of contamination.
Jeanne Brandt. OSU Extension Service Family and Community Health Faculty. Jeanne Brandt is
the Trainer and coordinator of Master Food Preserver program in the Oregon metro area. She
provides community education related to food safety and preservation.
Introduction to Food Preservation
In this workshop Learn about how and why different methods of preservation are used, how to
identify current and safe references, and what equipment is necessary or just nice for successful
food preservation.
Jeanne Brandt. OSU Extension Service Family and Community Health Faculty. Jeanne Brandt is
the Trainer and coordinator of Master Food Preserver program in the Oregon metro area. She
provides community education related to food safety and preservation.
Kitchen Safety Practices and Knife Skills for Kids
In many schools and local communities, parents, teachers and school garden coordinators
enthusiastically report that their kids are eating better and are more open to tasting new
foods. What’s the secret? Nothing surprising – just the simple fact that kids who cook become
better eaters. Too often kitchen safety and allowing kids to use “real” cooking tools like knives
prevent many parents, teachers and community volunteers from giving kids the opportunity to
prepare and cook their own food. Teaching kids to cook is one of the most valuable things you
can do. These are skills they will use for a lifetime. In this workshop, participants will learn how
4
to introduce and teach kitchen safety to kids, how to properly handle and use knives and other
kitchen tools, and how to select the right tools for the developmental stage of the youth in the
program.
Barbara Brody, Family and Community Health/4-H Agent in Malheur County. She has practical
experience with school and community gardens through her many years as an Extension Agent
and High School Agriculture teacher. In her role as an educator, Barbara approaches her work
with both a spirit for teaching and learning.
The Great Garden Detective Adventure: A standards-based gardening nutrition curriculum for
grades 3 and 4. Discover what fruits and vegetables are the sweetest, crunchiest, and juiciest
through a series of investigations and interactive experiences connecting the school garden to
the classroom, school cafeteria, and home. This eleven-lesson curriculum for 3rd and 4th grades
includes bulletin board materials, veggie dice, fruit and vegetable flash cards, and ten issues of
Garden Detective News for parents, school leaders, and volunteers.
Barbara Brody, Family and Community Health/4-H Agent in Malheur County and Maureen
Hosty, 4-H Extension Faculty in Multnomah County.
4-H Run Girl Run Program
Run Girl Run is a 5K running program for 3rd -5th grade girls. The program takes the girls from
running a minute/walking 2 all the way to a 5K in this 10 Week Program. Along the way, the
program teaches goal setting, hydration and nutrition and some personal finance.
Mobile Cheerleaders (MC) are adult and high school runners are paired with runners in the
program and run the 5K event alongside them; encouraging the athlete, keeping the
run/walk/run process on track and keeping them moving. The Run Girl Run program has 100%
success rate for those that start the 5K finish the 5K, thanks to the MC’s! Learn how to start a
program in your school or community using the tips and resources from the Columbia County 4H program.
Woody Davis, OSU Extension 4-H Faculty for Columbia County: Woody just finished 25
years as a 4-H Youth Development Professional. He has worked in New Mexico and Oregon. His
program focus is: Challenge and Adventure, Outdoor Recreation, Healthy Lifestyles and Youth
Leadership. He is the father of two terrific kids, one girl one boy and they love the
outdoors. Away from the office, Woody enjoys running and kayaking, snowshoeing, mountain
biking, hiking, climbing and backpacking.
Enjoy Cooking Whole Grain Foods: For every meal of the day!
Grain based foods provide complex carbohydrates, are often low in fat, full of fiber and high in B
vitamins. Cooking with "true" whole grains means all three parts of the kernel are present. This
workshop is designed to help participants teach nutrition concepts around the importance of
whole grains and learn how to incorporate whole grains into every meal. With simple, easy
recipes and cooking tips using whole grains, you can show others through hands-on cooking and
taste testing, the joy of discovering all the goodness of whole grain foods!
Shara Anslow, OSU Extension Foods and Nutrition Staff in Multnomah County: Shara teaches
health and nutrition classes in the Portland Public Schools in her role as an OSU Extension staff.
Seasonal Cooking with Youth
5
Safely harvesting and preparing food from the school garden is critically important. Learn the
important guidelines and practices that will ensure food safety. Once your food is safely
harvested, learn how to use food from your school garden or local Pacific Northwest foods for
healthy eating. This hands-on cooking demonstration will lead participants through low-cost
and nutritious food recipes that can be used with youth with right inside the classroom.
Kelly Streit, OSU Extension Faculty, Family and Community Health and Snap-Ed: Kelly is a
clinical dietician and is involved in many aspects of foods and nutrition. She works across all age
groups from elementary students to seniors. Some of her programs include food preservation,
plot to plate, and food safety.
Balance, Energy, Physical Activity (BEPA) toolkit
This workshop introduces the Balanced Energy-Physical Activity (BEPA) Toolkit. This toolkit
integrates physical activity and nutrition concepts through education and activity. Nutrition
concepts are linked to physical activity concepts and active games through an approach that
explains the concept of balanced energy as a combination of healthful eating and regular, varied
physical activity. The BEPA Toolkit provides educators with materials and activity ideas that can
be used in and outside of the classroom and before, during, or after school to increase children’s
physical activity time at school. BEPA represents an evidence-based, behaviorally focused
program that seamlessly integrates the components of energy balance: healthful eating and
physical activity.
Dr. Pamela Rose, Associate Professor in College of Public Health and Human Sciences at
Oregon State University and 4-H Youth Development Specialist with the Oregon 4-H Program. She
writes curriculum, provides training, and fosters youth and volunteer development in the areas of
family and consumer sciences (foods and nutrition, food preservation, clothing, & designing
spaces) and expressive arts (art, photography, performing arts, fiber arts, ceramics & pottery).
Active Garden Games for Promoting Physical Activity and Creative Play
Working outside in the garden is a fun and physically active experience for school children. In
this workshop, participants will learn a variety of active and fun games that teach garden and
natural resource concepts and promote creative play. These active games and activities can be
incorporated before or after working in the garden as fillers or as stand alone activities.
Maureen Hosty, OSU Extension 4-H Faculty, Metro Area. Maureen has been working
with schools and school gardens for the past 19 years in the Portland Metro area and
statewide. She has provided leadership to a team of 4-H staff and volunteers to support
and train a cadre of trained Master Volunteers to create, design, use and sustain school
gardens for teaching across all areas for the curriculum
Using Art as the Tool for Food Discovery
At the intersection of learning and behavior change is fun and creativity. Art can be a great and
sometimes underutilized tool for discovery and learning. In this workshop, participants will
experience hands-on activities for learning about food (from food science to healthy eating)
through use of visual and performing arts related activities.
Pamela Rose, Associate Professor in College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon
State University and 4-H Youth Development Specialist with the Oregon 4-H Program. She writes
curriculum, provides training, and fosters youth and volunteer development in the areas of family
6
and consumer sciences (foods and nutrition, food preservation, clothing, & designing spaces) and
expressive arts (art, photography, performing arts, fiber arts, ceramics & pottery).
Youth Leadership and Positive Youth Development
Great Teens Make Great Teachers
Teens do make great teachers, and many schools are looking for ways to engage teens as
teachers of younger youth effectively. Dr. Mary Arnold, 4-H Youth Development Specialist at
Oregon State University will present an overview of strategies for developing successful teens as
teachers programs. The workshop will sample some of the hands-on and interactive activities
from the Oregon YA4-H! Teens as Teachers curriculum.
Dr. Mary Arnold is a Professor in College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State
University and 4-H Youth Development Specialist with the Oregon 4-H Program. Her areas of
emphasis are in adolescent development, positive youth development, and program development
and evaluation.
Engaging Culturally Diverse Youth:
Every learner experiences culture and diversity through their own unique lens. A learning garden
offers countless opportunities to engage youth across cultures of age, ethnicity, race, gender,
ability, economy, and more. This session will offer garden-based educators some theory,
practices, and applied methods to effectively engage culturally diverse youth and learners in a
garden setting. Topics will include cultural awareness, stress and safety, student empowerment,
and embracing cultural capital.
Liana Harden, OSU Extension Growing Health Kids Research Assistant: Liana Harden, OSU
Extension Growing Health Kids Research Assistant: The daughter of a naturalist, Liana was
raised touring and exploring the biodiversity of North America. She has taught garden-based
education, developed garden-based curriculum, and engaged diverse communities in gardening
at the Learning Gardens Lab in Portland, Oregon and in the Delta Garden Study, a program
addressing childhood obesity in the Mississippi River Delta in rural Arkansas. In that role she
taught middle school science and health through gardening, as well as collaborating on the
development of school garden programs in public schools across the state. Currently, she
supports the GROW Healthy Kids and Communities study at OSU Extension by collaborating with
school and community groups to implement health initiatives in Columbia County, such as Farm
to School education programs, school gardens, nature trails, and more.
Connecting Youth to Community Service Projects:
High school is a time of fast-paced social and educational growth, but it's also time to give back.
Many high schools require teenagers to log community service hours before qualifying for
graduation. Specific definitions of community service will differ and some schools partner with
local businesses and non-profit organizations so students can earn hours toward graduation. In
this workshop some of the service learning projects around farms, food and fitness will be
explored, how to find the project that best meets the needs of the youth and then how to plan
for success.
Maureen Hosty, OSU Extension 4-H Faculty, Metro Area. Maureen has been working with
schools and school gardens for the past 19 years in the Portland Metro area and statewide. She
has provided leadership to a team of 4-H staff and volunteers to support and train a cadre of
trained Master Volunteers to create, design, use and sustain school gardens for teaching across
all areas for the curriculum
7
4-H Youth Entrepreneurs
Today 4-H youth are starting their own businesses around topics they care about – farms and
foods. This workshop will introduce two successful 4-H entrepreneur models. The 4-H Youth
City Farm project is a successful youth led CSA (community supported agriculture) project, the
first certified Youth City Farm in the USA. Youth from this 4-H project will lead participants
through the process of how to set up their own CSA, what they learned from this project, and
how they used this project to generate revenue from to provide stipends for each of the youth
workers. The Clatsop 4-H Young Entrepreneurs club is a year round club in partnership with the
Astoria Sunday Market. Youth entrepreneurs learn everything from deciding on the product
they want to sell, budgeting, designing their product display, marketing to salesmanship. Today
these young entrepreneurs are enjoying success selling produce from their gardens at the local
farmers market.
Dan Hoynacki, OSU Extension Sustainable Communities Faculty and the Marion County
Youth Enviro Squad 4-H club: Dan is the OSU Extension faculty who provides leadership to this
very successful high school program. Youth from the Enviro Squad 4-H club and some of the 4-H
youth farmers will co-present with Dan.
Leading the Change
This workshop will take participants through the process of helping high school youth design,
plan and implement their local community based project. The workshop will emphasize the
leadership skills necessary for ensuring success. High school youth will lead participants through
some of the leadership lessons and activities that will give high school youth the leadership tools
they need to make changes in their community.
Dan Hoynacki, OSU Extension Sustainable Communities Faculty and the Marion County
Youth Enviro Squad 4-H club: Dan is the OSU Extension faculty who provides leadership to this
very successful high school program. Youth from the Enviro Squad 4-H club and some of the 4-H
youth farmers will co-present with Dan.
4-H Loan Library: Education Kits and Curriculum
Many local county 4-H offices provide education kits and resources that can be checked out and
used in and out of the school classroom. Schools are also developing many of their own simple
education kits that can be easily used by teachers and community volunteers when working
with youth. These education kits are great resources for engaging youth in authentic STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) learning. In this workshop, participants will have the
opportunity to explore many of the education kits offered by 4-H and learn how to make their
own low-cost education kits for use at their own school. Supporting 4-H research-based
curriculum complements these education kits.
Patrick Willis, Oregon State University, 4-H Youth Development Faculty. Mr. Willis has a Master
of Science in Biology and Teaching from Portland State University, and brings over 25 years of
varied expertise to OSU. He has been a program manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and
Industry, the Executive Director of Jackson Bottom Wetlands, a 725 acre wildlife preserve in
Oregon, and a classroom science teacher. He has developed and implemented a wide array of
STEM and place-based programs for teachers and youth.
8
Effective Teaching Strategies for Engaging Youth
Having a philosophy of education is not enough. Technical knowledge is required to successfully
educate the range of diverse learners in today’s schools, and educators must incorporate that
technical knowledge into the design of instructional materials and tools. In this workshop learn
tips and strategies for engaging and empowering youth.
Barbara Brody, Family and Community Health/4-H Agent in Malheur County. She has practical
experience with school and community gardens through her many years as an Extension Agent
and High School Agriculture teacher. In her role as an educator, Barbara approaches her work
with both a spirit for teaching and learning.
Creative Fundraising for Community Youth Based Projects
Funding your garden over time will require looking beyond grants. This session is geared for
school garden projects that are looking for alternative ways to fund their projects with a variety
of successful fundraising strategies, tapping into local resources, and community partnerships.
Michael O’Louglin, OSU Master Gardener and 4-H Wildlife Steward . Michael has been
involved in every aspect of building and maintaining school gardens for over 15 years. He has
lectured for the American Horticultural Society on the subject of gardening with children, consults
with the National Garden Clubs and is a Wildlife Steward. Michael was awarded the 2008
Horticulture Award by the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs, as well as the 2009 Tree
Steward Award and the 2010 Exemplary Citizen Award from the city of Tigard. When he is not
busy volunteering, he produces home and garden shows.
The Power of Youth Journals
Student journals are a great way for students to document what they are learning and
developing their writing schools. Explore methods and guidelines for incorporating journaling as
a regular and ongoing process for your students.
Patrick Willis, Oregon State University, 4-H Youth Development Faculty. Mr. Willis has a Master
of Science in Biology and Teaching from Portland State University, and brings over 25 years of
varied expertise to OSU. He has been a program manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and
Industry, the Executive Director of Jackson Bottom Wetlands, a 725 acre wildlife preserve in
Oregon, and a classroom science teacher. He has developed and implemented a wide array of
STEM and place-based programs for teachers and youth.
4-H Clubs 101
4-H clubs are a great way to provide additional learning opportunities for those students with a
strong interest in school sustainable living projects. Cross-age mentoring, flexible curriculum and
service learning opportunities are all possible through 4-H after-school programs. Learn about a
variety of successful models for starting a 4-H club at your school.
Maureen Hosty, OSU Extension 4-H Faculty, Metro Area. Maureen has been working with
schools and school gardens for the past 19 years in the Portland Metro area and statewide. She
has provided leadership to a team of 4-H staff and volunteers to support and train a cadre of
trained Master Volunteers to create, design, use and sustain school gardens for teaching across
all areas for the curriculum
9
10