Contact: Michael Metallo
National Gardening Association
(800) 538-7476, ext. 123
Mikem@garden.org
NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES TEN DESERVING SCHOOLS RECEIVE NEW 2009 MANTIS ADOPT A SCHOOL GARDEN AWARD
The Mantis Adopt a School Garden® (ASG) Program will award 10 schools in 2009
So. Burlington, VT (March 10, 2009) –Mantis and the National Gardening Association (NGA) are pleased to announce the 2009 Mantis Adopt a School Garden Program winners. Funded by a generous grant from Southampton, PA, based Mantis, 10 schools in the Greater Philadelphia area including Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware area won the Mantis ASG award."This award will help teachers and children to engage in a successful plant-based educational program and create a hands-on learning environment that teaches, among other things, subjects on sustainability, nutrition, composting, and more," says Mike Metallo, President of NGA.
The 10 award recipients will receive technical assistance, horticultural and garden education consultation, a $600 ASG Kit and a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator or Mantis ComposT-Twin Composter to help lay the foundation for their garden program. The Kits each contain tools and materials that focus on the nutrition and/or sustainability preference.
"Horticultural science feeds the curiosity in all of us,″ states Linda Beattie, Donations Coordinator at Mantis. ″Through a school gardening program, students will learn how flowers grow and where fruits and vegetables come from, but in reality these are valuable lessons in our ecosystem, the environment, our climate, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and much, much more. Gardening feeds the mind, body, and spirit unlike any other subject of study and we are excited to team up with the National Gardening Association in bringing these integral life-cycle lessons to schools in the tri-state area."
"The disparity between the public's attitude toward school gardening programs and its awareness of existing programs is startling," says Mike Metallo, President of NGA. "It signals that NGA has a lot of work to do to raise public awareness of the benefits of school gardens. With help from companies like Mantis, we've created the ASG program to bridge the gap between schools needing funding for their school garden program and those companies having the resources and the desire to support schools and communities with gardening programs. It also illustrates the opportunity all of us have to help gardens become hands-on teaching tools and living laboratories at every school in the country."
Applicants came from elementary, middle, and high schools with outdoor garden programs located in the Greater Philadelphia area including Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware are eligible to apply. Preference was given to programs focusing on nutrition and sustainability. The winners are as follows:
1) Cherry Hill School in River Edge, NJ
2) Archbishop Damiano School in Westville Grove, NJ
3) Culbertson Elementary School in Newtown Square, PA
4) Olney High School – West, 704 in Philadelphia, PA
5) Kensington Culinary Arts High School in Philadelphia, PA
6) Sarah Starkweather Elementary in West Chester, PA
7) Abraham Lincoln Elementary in Levittown, PA
8) Wissahickon Charter School in Philadelphia, PA
9) East Side Charter School in Wilmington, DE
10) Forest Oak Elementary in Newark, DE
About the Adopt a School Garden® Program
The National Gardening Association's flagship Adopt a School Garden program bridges the gap between schools lacking resources and people who have the ability to help. School garden programs boost achievement, cultivate life skills, contribute to healthy lifestyles, and connect kids with nature through hands-on learning. To learn more, visit http://assoc.garden.org/ag/asg/.
About National Gardening Association
Headquartered in Vermont, the nonprofit National Gardening Association promotes gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connection between people, plants, and the environment. For 35 years, NGA has been a leader in plant-based education and garden-industry research. Our programs are valued and praised by educators and communities across America, making us a strong partner. We offer the Web's largest and most respected library of online gardening resources. Though our strength is in youth gardening, our resources support gardeners of every age and ability. NGA acts as an interactive hub and provides a critical service to educators, supplying them with curriculum, publications, grants, awards, and professional development tools.
Every year NGA serves an estimated 178,000 educators and 10,000 school garden programs through grant programs, educational support materials, and other resources. Our programs have helped an estimated 1.3 million youngsters reap rewards and vital life lessons in schoolyard habitats and community gardens nationwide. With support from corporate sponsors, NGA has distributed more than $3,391,350 to youth garden projects throughout the United States, along with a wealth of free resource materials that empower educators, community leaders, and parents to teach young people effectively. Our primary communication vehicle is the Web and NGA owns one of the largest online repositories of educational youth gardening content in the U.S.
About Mantis
For more than 25 years Mantis has made gardening easier with its famous tiller/cultivators, dual-chamber composter, and many other gardener-friendly tools. Mantis products are available direct from the factory, through mail-order, and through more than 3,500 equipment dealerships nationwide. To learn more about Mantis and its family of gardening and yard care products, visit the Mantis website at www.mantis.com or call Mantis toll-free at 800-366-6268.