Students design and install a pollinator or vegetable garden on their campus or in their community.
Case Study —
Polk Central Elementary
See how Polk Central 5th graders worked with community volunteers to design and plant a pollinator garden at their school.
What Makes a RootEd Team?
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Explore the Possibilities: Adaptable Projects for Any Subject!
Etowah Elementary
Partnered with Blantyre Station Greenhouse
West McDowell Middle
Partnered with Marion City Council and McDowell Trails Association
The Student Experience
During RootEd projects and challenges, students make creative products that benefit real people and places while learning course content and community problem solving.
Gardens can be powerful vehicles for learning essential subjects and skills like ELA, math, science, SEL, CTE, and the arts. We work with teachers in all grade levels and subject areas to integrate their standards into every RootEd challenge and project.
Curriculum Kits
Co-Teaching Services
Curriculum and Learning Design
Our curriculum and tools are designed with and for North Carolina teachers and students. We focus on the people, places, and problems that make our state and its communities unique. During a RootEd project, students (preK-college) make creative products for real people and places while learning course content and collaborative problem solving.
Co-Planning and Co-Teaching
“No plan survives first contact with the enemy,” and no curriculum or lesson plan survives the realities and curveballs of life in the classroom. We work side-by-side and on-the-job with teachers to plan activities, integrate course standards, align activities to pacing guides, and co-teach. We believe that the path to powerful learning goes through teacher creativity, and not around it.
Community Connections & Partnership Development
RootEd connects teachers and students with experts, partners, and sponsors that bring learning to life. These collaborators identify community needs, share expertise, offer feedback on student work, and provide financial support to make authentic learning attainable and sustainable for all NC classrooms and communities.
Design & Print Services
The RootEd team is made up of both teachers and designers (graphic, video, audio, prototyping). These creative professionals partner with classrooms to transform student work into finished products. We also take care of any printing or digital publishing.
Storytelling & Documenting
RootEd supports teachers and students in documenting their learning stories. We create and co-create videos, articles, photos, and social media posts to showcase the amazing work that students and teachers are doing to impact their communities.
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The Sponsor Experience
Make an impact where it matters most – at the intersection of classrooms and communities.
Interested in being a champion for education, creativity, and community?
Sponsoring a RootEd challenge or team provides companies, individuals, and foundations as well as schools and districts the opportunity to support a sustainable and creative model for connecting student learning to the real world.
You won’t have to wonder about the impact – you’ll see it in the creative work that lives in the community, and the pride on student, teacher, and partner faces.
Organizations and individuals can sponsor this challenge, and help us bring it to classrooms and communities across North Carolina. We also offer opportunities to sponsor individual RootEd teams/classrooms, and their specific field guide projects. Sponsors receive recognition in the field guide(s), on our website, and in other media.
One of the things that we’re teaching is how to get the children ready for careers someday. They’re seeing people in different roles, they’re getting to work with people who are experts in different occupations, and learning how to collaborate with people that have something to teach them.
The Partner Experience
RootEd connects experts and organizations with classrooms to create mutually beneficial experiences and products.
Besides just being fun, the [students] are helping the environment; they’re putting native plants out there, they’re helping pollinators, and they’re creating food resources.
Interested in working with students to create a garden for your campus or community?
Our partners and experts present students with challenges, provide feedback on student work, and share their expertise through hands-on activities and field trips. Time commitments are flexible and range from as little as one hour to several hours. Reach out to learn more, and see how you can get involved.
Besides just being fun, the [students] are helping the environment; they’re putting native plants out there, they’re helping pollinators, and they’re creating food resources.