DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Barb Gustin and Arcilia Ramirez serve as administrators in the School City of Hammond Head Start program in Hammond, Indiana, with eight teachers and eight teacher assistants serving eight classrooms housed in various ele- mentary school buildings around the city. They believed that gardening would be a great way for their staff to meet the federal Head Start program performance standards involving health, nutrition, cognitive development, social skills, parent involvement, and outdoor play experiences. In early spring, Marla and Sara provided a hands-on training workshop about gardening using the project approach. Some teachers seemed hesitant to engage in gardening for various reasons, such as challenging space issues or lack of personal knowledge. To motivate their staff, Barb and Arcilia decided to host a “friendly competition.” They asked each team of teachers to cre- ate a garden with the children and document the process however they desired. As the school year ended and summer approached, the staff were asked to submit presentations of their garden project documentation to a panel of judges made up of a Geminus Head Start administrator and a School City of Hammond school board member who was a Master Gardener. The presentations were judged based on photo documentation of the project, presentation format, best use of space (related to space limitations at a site), creativity, educational value, parent involve- ment, and amount of time invested. The teachers created posters, trifold displays, and large books or journals that included photos and children’s work products to document the process. This allowed the staff to feel a sense of accomplishment in their garden project and share their ideas and successes with other teachers. 22  •  Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL