Please read the instructions and review the Farm to School Rubric below before filling out this form.

Complete ONE application per team. Individuals may not apply.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY Friday, February 28, 2025. Notifications of team selections will be made by March 17, 2025. 

FOR SCHOOL-BASED TEAMS: Teams must be composed of 4 or more individuals representing various constituencies in the school and community. Teams must have representation from the 3 following roles: administration, teachers, school nutrition/food service. Additional members can include: family members, farmers or other local food producers, community partners, school garden educators or managers, school nurse and/or other staff, district-level staff, school board, etc.

**NOTE TO SCHOOL-BASED TEAMS: When filling out this application, please write N/A in any of the required fields of the DISTRICT-WIDE TEAMS section.

FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT-WIDE TEAMS: Currently, we are only accepting district-level applications from districts with 5 or fewer schools. Teams must be comprised of 5 or more individuals representing various constituencies in the school and community. Teams must have representation from: district-level administration, teachers, and school nutrition/food service. Additional team members can include: school-based administration, family members, farmers or other local food producers, community partners, school garden educators or managers, school nurse and/or other staff, school board, etc. In your application, please identify 1 or 2 particular schools in your district in which you will focus efforts on implementing a Farm to School action plan that can serve as an example for other schools within the district.  This has been found to be the most successful way to guide district teams through the planning process. Make sure that 1-2 individuals from these schools are on the team and attend the retreat. 

**NOTE TO THE DISTRICT-WIDE TEAMS: When filling out this application, please write N/A in any of the required fields of the SCHOOL-BASED TEAMS section.

A note about team composition and the Summer Retreat: While there is no max number for team members, there is only space for 5 team members to attend the Summer Retreat. At least 3 team members attending the retreat must include at least one representative from the cafeteria (child nutrition), administration and education (teacher or garden educator). These three roles must be represented at the Summer Retreat which will be held June 24-26 at the Oregon Gardens Resort in Silverton, OR. 

We recommend completing your responses to the application narrative questions below in a separate document. You can copy/paste your responses when you are ready to submit your application.

Access the Farm to School Rubric at this link: https://bit.ly/FTSrubric

1. Utilizing the Farm to School Rubric, please select where your school or district is currently (Emerging, Developing, Deepening, Thriving) in the CAFETERIA/meal program.
2. Please explain your answer above and describe your current efforts integrating farm to school in the CAFETERIA/meal program. (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
3. Utilizing the Farm to School Rubric, please select where your school or district is currently (Emerging, Developing, Deepening, Thriving) in the CLASSROOM.
4. Please explain your answer above and describe your current efforts integrating farm to school in the CLASSROOM. (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
5. Utilizing the Farm to School Rubric, please select where your school or district is currently (Emerging, Developing, Deepening, Thriving) in efforts to integrate farm to school in the COMMUNITY (includes families, parent-teacher organizations, farmers and other food producers, community organizations, etc).
6. Please explain your answer above and describe your current efforts integrating farm to school in the COMMUNITY. (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
7. Utilizing the Farm to School Rubric, please select where your school or district is currently (Emerging, Developing, Deepening, Thriving) in efforts to sustain and integrate farm to school programs over time.
8. Please explain your answer above and describe how you see the STAYING POWER/ INTEGRATION of your farm to school program and how you see farm to school fitting in or elevating other initiatives in your school and/or district? (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
9. What equity initiatives are in place at your school or district? How might the Farm to School Institute be an opportunity to support or enhance these initiatives? (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
10. What does your team hope to gain from participating in the Oregon Farm to School Institute? Please share two specific goals and an associated objective for each goal. (suggested 500-1,500 characters)
11. Is there anything that you want us to know about your team members, school, district, or community to help us in our review process?

Please check out our FAQ page for more information about the criteria we use and how we select teams for the Institute. Please direct any communications to institute@ecotrust.org. A printable PDF of the application instructions and narrative questions can be accessed by clicking this link.