Bill Text: NJ AJR192 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates first Thursday of March of each year as "Learning Through Gardening Day."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee [AJR192 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-AJR192-Introduced.html
No. 192
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 25, 2019
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Designates first Thursday of March of each year as "Learning Through Gardening Day."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution designating the first Thursday of March of each year as "Learning Through Gardening Day."
Whereas, The New Jersey Agricultural Society's mission is to preserve and enhance agriculture, farming, and related activities and businesses in New Jersey through educational, informational, and promotional programs; and
Whereas, The New Jersey Agricultural Society's "Learning Through Gardening" program provides New Jersey elementary schools with financial, educational, and agricultural resources to create a school garden which is used as a living, outdoor learning laboratory; and
Whereas, School gardens are a fun and exciting way to make almost any classroom curriculum come alive and provide students with "real-life" applications of various subjects as they learn; and
Whereas, Whether growing vegetables, fruits, or a variety of herbs, edible gardens are a valuable tool that schools can use to promote healthier eating habits, appreciate locally grown food sources, teach environmental stewardship, and encourage community and social development; and
Whereas, School gardens provide opportunities for students to participate in hands-on learning that teaches their standard curriculum, including math, science, social studies, health, and language arts; and
Whereas, School gardens are proven to help students learn better and enhance their test scores, and are an engaging way to meet "STEM," or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, curriculum goals; and
Whereas, For example, mathematics education is incorporated into the Learning Through Gardening program as gardens give younger students a chance to identify, analyze, compose, and compare shapes, classify objects, and count the number of objects in each category; and
Whereas, Gardens also provide older students the opportunity to work with numbers while planting seeds and to solve practical computation problems such as calculating the suggested distance between seeds or seedlings; and
Whereas, It is important that all schools in the State promote the New Jersey Agricultural Society's "Learning Through Gardening" program to enhance the educational achievement of children across the State; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The first Thursday of March of each year is designated as "Learning Through Gardening Day" in order to recognize the educational importance of the program and to acknowledge the program's success in enhancing the educational achievement of children across the State.
2. The Governor is respectfully requested to issue an annual proclamation calling upon public officials and citizens of the State to observe "Learning through Gardening Day" with appropriate activities and programs.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would designate the first Thursday of March of each year as "Learning Through Gardening Day" in order to recognize the educational importance of the program and to acknowledge the "Learning Through Gardening" program's success in enhancing the educational achievement for children across the State.
The New Jersey Agricultural Society's mission is to preserve and enhance agriculture, farming, and related activities and businesses in New Jersey through educational, informational, and promotional programs. The New Jersey Agricultural Society's "Learning Through Gardening" program provides New Jersey elementary schools with financial, educational, and agricultural resources to create a school garden which is used as a living, outdoor learning laboratory. School gardens are a fun and exciting way to make almost any classroom curriculum come alive and provide students with "real-life" applications of various subjects as they learn. Whether growing vegetables, fruits, or a variety of herbs, edible gardens are a valuable tool that schools can use to promote healthier eating habits, appreciate locally grown food sources, teach environmental stewardship, and encourage community and social development.
School gardens provide opportunities for students to participate in hands-on learning that teaches their standard curriculum, including math, science, social studies, health, and language arts. School gardens are proven to help students learn better and enhance their test scores, and are an engaging way to meet "STEM," or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, curriculum goals. For example, mathematics education is incorporated into the Learning Through Gardening program as gardens give younger students a chance to identify, analyze, compose, and compare shapes, classify objects, and count the number of objects in each category. Gardens give older students the opportunity to work with numbers while planting seeds and solve practical computation problems such as calculating the suggested distance between seeds or seedlings.
