Rain Barrel Assembly and Survey

It was interesting to see how the painting of the rain barrels turned out, since I could only provide the paint and could not be there for the actual process. I was so excited to be able to finally put them together and show the children the finished product of all of their creativity. It was a bit disappointing on the turnout of children we had this time, but we still had fun putting on the faucets and turning the screws to assemble the rain barrels.
During which time, some of us pulled individual children into the one-on-one survey time, in order to assess their thoughts of our project. I found it pretty amazing that each child I interviewed had a chance to explain their involvement in our project to either a family member or friend or both. I am also pleased to know that some of the children are considering future involvement in environmental clubs.

April 23

So this meeting, I think, made everyone a little nervous. We started by unloading my car with the pavers. they were quit large, so it took a couple of people to carry each one. On our way to the site for the rain barrels, students mentioned that we were from 'Imagination Envirostation", which again proves that there is awareness of what is going on at the school.

Not all of the students were showing up at first, so we started putting the rain barrels together. From here we took them to the site and finished their assembly. It was actually very easy. When all of the students were finally there, we took the surveys (8) and then explained the parts of the rain barrels and reviewed what their purpose was.

All in all, this was a farely easy visit. The main problem was just being able to find all of the kids.

Preparation for rain barrels

A professional craftsman, was recruited to cut and restructure the gutters, in preparation for the rain barrels. This process consisted of cutting the gutters with a hack-saw, dismantling the elbow(down- spout) , and then remounting the elbow to the gutter. This process was necessary for
placing the rain barrels under the gutters. In a prior session students located places where their rain barrels could be installed, that information was used in selecting the two areas where the barrels will be placed. Now, students will be able to place their rain barrels in the designated areas on our next session.

While assisting with the gutter preparation, two students asked if we were apart of 'Imagination Envirostation'. This suggest that students in the school are aware of our involvement and have noticed the modifications we have been making at their school.

Painting April 16th

On April 16, students were able to paint their rain barrels. Students used purple and white eco-friendly paint to decorate their barrels. Many students decided to write their names on the barrels as a clear indicator that they had been involved in this process. Afterwards, left over paint was donated to the school.

Reporters from the Daily Star and the Advocate were present to interview and photograph this experience. Reporters noted detailed information about the formation of this project including the implementation of projects, the benefits of this project and future goals for 'Imagination Envirostation. Students were able to share their environmental knowledge with reporters. Students spoke about the benefits of planting trees on their campus, the purpose of using natural fertilizer like pine straw, and the possibility of owning a environmental company. Students displayed a great deal of environmental knowledge, which suggest that they have been actively listening and retaining information discussed in prior sessions.

During this session, students were given handouts that outlined how to care for their trees. Students were instructed to distribute the flyer's to their peers.

"Painting and the Press"

Friday was one of our most productive visits yet! We had two reporters and one photographer present. They all asked very useful question to us, the students, Ms. Rousseau, and Ms. Beech. Our article in the Daily Star should be published either Tues or Wed (I will post when I find out). Some of the children seemed a little nervous speaking with a reporter; however, once we started our activity they spoke more openly and more confidently. Alex took a video of our activity and hopes to get it on the Daily Star's website along with our article. Some students who are usually more shy were eager to be in the "business" activity and participate. I noticed that while we were doing this activity, even the students who were painting stopped what they were doing to pay attention. At one point, I overheard a student (not in our group) what we were doing. One of our students then went on to explain to her classmate what rainbarrels are and why we are installing them.

I got a kick out of the things painted on the rainbarrels. This art is truly an expression of our students' selves. I noticed everything from their names, to flowers, to "I <3 Justin Beiber". Kids will be kids.

April 16

The Rain Barrels finally happened!!! Seems like those have been taking forever to get here. I do not think that there could have been a better Friday. For a while now it only seemed as if our friend was the only one who was learning anything. Friday proved us all wrong! The kids have been soaking up everything that we have been saying. They did an amazing job in the skit but also with the reporters. The group of extra kids that have been coming to see us is getting larger every Friday, and it is as if they are learning just as much. They definitely seem willing to help their fellow classmates in their project. AND THE TREES!!! The trees are doing so well. Of course there are a few that are looking like they will not make it. However, from standing by the picnic table, I counted 14 that are visibly doing well. So who knows, if I walked around to every one, the results might have been very surprising. Our friend says there are 25 trees all together. 14 out of 25, that's pretty good I think. Oh, by the way, one of the cypress tree's top was broken off, so I splinted it back together with our friend. I will check next week to see if there is any improvement.

Hammond Daily Star

This week I spoke with Alexandra Hedrick, an undergraduate journalism major at Southeastern, who has had several articles published in the Daily Star. I told her about our project, showed her our blog, and told her we were interested in having a story written in a local paper. She ran it by her editor and got the go-ahead to do a story on Imagination Envirostation!

She will be accompanying us to our next school visit on April 16 to interview participants. Principal Rousseaux has been notified and she is going to make sure all of our students have photo releases (this means we shouldn't have to distribute permission forms to students, but we may want to give them forms to take home anyway).

We are going to be famous!

March 26

We really had a lot going on for this Friday's get together. We planted our 3 River Birch and 1 Cypress, watered all the trees, mulched, and flagged. It took a little bit longer this time for our original group to join our planting adventures. The other students are really starting to notice what our project is doing and wanting to be involved. This is great, because maybe there will be a better chance of the trees making it through their first year. Everyone also seemed to be more excited this week, which made it very hard to get all of their attention towards the end of our meet. But other than that, 'Imagination Envirostation' is a hit.

Mar 26

Another great session (they seem to be getting better and better)! Even the students who cannot stay for our club are coming to help out during their recess. On Friday we saw those girls coming in droves!!! They all had questions and were interested in what we were saying.

While distributing the pine straw, we had discussions with the students about why muching is important and the reasons we chose to use pine straw. They all listened eagerly. Afterwards, we found some pieces of pine that had fallen from the trees. We showed the students that the straw we used came from these very trees (the importance of nature). Some students mentioned that they can use dried pieces of pine found on the ground to help cover the bottom of their trees. They were all eager to help water the plants and label them with flags. These flags help distinguish where all the trees are planted and make our work look more substantial.

The students love picture time at the end of the sessions. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for our activity. Hopefully we can incorporate it into our next session- rain barrels! One student even mentioned the rain barrels, which shows that they pay attention to us (ha) and care about what we are doing. When time was up, we made sure to let them know that we'll be back and that we'll miss seeing them.

Friday, March 26

Once students saw that we were on the play ground we attracted the attention of several students that were not in our group; students were eager to help plant their new trees. 'Imagination Envirostation' has been very receptive to all new students wanting to participate in our service learning project. As a result, several students have consistently participated during their recess time and look forward to our arrival on Friday's.

To further develop an environmental identity, students were given flags to mark the trees they planted. Students were instructed to write their name and the name of the tree planted on flag (s) and then place flags beside all the trees they helped plant. Students also located a water source and took turns filling buckets to waterier their trees. Students placed pine straw by all their trees to reduce run off of rain water, maintain the moisture of the soil, and to reduce damage from lawn movers. A janitor at the school noted that it was a strong possibility that our trees would be destroyed by individuals moving the lawn. However, this particular janitor insisted that he would inform other workers to be cautions of the trees that the students had planted.

Our next session will be held on April 16, due to spring break closures.

Benefits of Trees!

Here are a few consolidated bullet points about the benefits of trees to stress this friday, especially for chris and jessica who will be doing the business model demonstration.

• well placed trees can lower home air conditioning and heating bills
• trees absorb stormwater and help reduce flooding
• trees clean the air of many pollutants
• the roots of trees hold soil in place and help prevent erosion
• trees lower the temperatures in the summer in cities where there is a lot of concrete and steel (urban heat island effect)
• trees increase the property value of homes and businesses
• trees help create relaxation
• trees provide habitat for lots of good wildlife from tiny insects to big birds like eagles
• using organic fertilizer and pesticides are best. chemical ones leak into out water supply and cause illnesses, just like the ones that are on our food that lead to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc.
  

March 19 - Planting trees

Students involved played an active role in planting about 24 trees on their campus. Trees planted included native 'Oak' and 'Riverbrich' and non native 'Chinese elm'. Several students were able to plant their own tree(s) and other students collaborated with peers to plant trees. For this project, students were able to select the location for their tree(s), dig holes deep enough to support the roots of the tree(s), and stabilize tree(s) in the ground. In addition, students learned that:


1.Trees come with instructions to ensure healthy growth- For example, some trees should be planted in dry areas, others in wet areas to help with flooding, trees should be spaced so many feet apart, and tree(s) should be so many feet from the concrete.
- I noticed that even thou students were given the option to decide where they won't to plant their tree(s). Some were concerned about what type of tree it was and in what area would it grow best. This shows that some students were forming an awareness regarding tree instructions and the survival of tree(s).

2.The the correct way to dig and place trees in the ground. Facilitators taught students the importance of making sure that the hole(s) were dug twice the size of the roots, ensure that roots were below the ground, and to chop up soil before placing back in the hole, to allow more oxygen to flow to the roots.
-I noticed that students placed their tree(s) in the ground several times measuring to make sure that their hole was deep enough to hold each plant.


3. How to Care for their trees- Students learned the importance of watering and looking after their trees. Facilitators will continue to educate students regarding the importance of caring for their trees.


Overall, students seemed to enjoy planting trees on their campus and are looking forward to designing rain barrels next Friday.

March 19

So our project is coming along!! Being able to give each of the kids their own individual trees was awesome. They were able to develop a partnership with their other classmates and have ownership at the same time. This provides that sense of community that we have been learning about that changes a city/school. The kids excitement when we get to the school on Fridays will hopefully develop into their ability to take care of the trees even after we leave.
For this weeks project of the rainbarrels... we need to remember to provide the kids with buckets so that they can walk the water to their trees... so add that to the budget?

Friday, Mar 19

I can't believe the number of trees we were able to plant on Friday. Since we had so many student participants, it was nice that we had extra trees and shovels for everyone to be able to help. Every student there was able to plant at least one tree- this is great because they all feel as though they contributed.

This Friday, I will bring the flags and some Sharpie markers. The students will be able to write their name on the flags and place them by the trees they planted. We should also get their pictures taken with the trees they planted. Maybe we could give them copies of those pics to keep?

My main concern for these trees is watering. It is very important, especially once the weather starts getting hotter, that these trees are watered on a regular basis. Ms. Beech mentioned to me that she has never seen any maintanence crew watering anything outside (she has never even seen any water hoses). Once we have our rain barrels, this won't be such a big issue. We'll just have to make sure the students think to water them regularly. Hopefully Saturday's rain was enough to keep them going for a while! The summer will pose a new concern once the students are no longer at the school every day...

I think every week we are there, the more interested the students are in what we're doing. They are starting to trust the fact that we are there every week and are starting to enjoy learning from us and participating in our projects. They are going to remember this for a long time!!!

Pictures from Friday's Tree Planting

Check out the pictures from Friday's tree planting!

Click here.

Meeting at the LSU/Hammond Ag Research Center

Dr. Burley and I met with Regina Bracy at the LSU Ag Research Center in Hammond on Thursday. Regina had a lot of great ideas for our project, including a way in which we could easily acquire additional funding. Here are a few of the things that came out of the meeting:

• Bracy's Nursery would likely donate 4-5 additional trees in 4 gallon buckets. These would be comparable to the trees we already attained at Lowe's
• Using the saplings we attained from LA Ag and Forestry, we could allow each student to plant their own tree. Doing this would give them pride of ownership and hopefully encourage them to devote time to ensuring their individual tree's survival. This would be a teaching experience and would encourage the development of an environmental identity.
• Regina suggested getting small, metal flags from Lowe's to place in the ground next to the young saplings. Students could put their names on the flags, revealing each tree's ownership. Doing this would add visibility to the presence of the young tree and hopefully keep it from being damaged by lawnmowers or by other students playing in the vicinity.
• Regina noted that we did not need to stake the young saplings that we attained from LA Ag and Forestry.
• Finally, Regina mentioned that she was in charge of allocating grant dollars for the Hammond Tree Foundation. She felt that our project was worthy of receiving some of the funds, and she asked that we submit a letter requesting the funds and detailing how we would spend them were they allocated to us. Upon doing so, she felt that she would be able to allocate at least $250.00 to our project. Jessica and I are going to put the letter together by early next week.

Friday's Session

I love the pictures, I think the kids had a really great time planting the trees. There weren't even enough gloves for all the students who wanted to help!

Having last Friday's session OUTSIDE was a huge bonus. All of the students who were at recess saw what we were doing and literally ran over. Everyone wanted to help! I counted at least ten new students who were asking what we were doing and if they could help. This probably made our group feel a little bit of pride in the fact that they are the ones involved. Even the girls wanted to get in there and dig holes. One student had a great idea of wrapping plastic bags around his shoes to keep them clean- this was an emergent trend that many other students implemented. This time, the students weren't reaching for the door

Luckily, we got a list of a few students who are not in our group but who would like to join. I told them to talk to their teachers and see if they could be included in the future.

This week should be fun. I did some online research on River Birch trees- it is a very pretty trees and is also native. It has salmon-colored bark that peels off as it ages. It does well in moist soil and should receive plenty of sunlight- perfect for our school yard!

In the email I sent to Principal Rousseau, I asked if someone could remind the students of their "assignment". Hopefully they will all bring their ideas with them this week.

Tree Planting

Can we say messy?!? :-D Guys and Gals, it was great this past Friday. It was nice to do something out of the norm. Our little buddy was a great help with the information that he had about trees... It's really good for someone their age to be educating them. I think it is more important that they learn from each other during all of this. On a side note, I'm glad that there are more places for the rain barrels. We definitely need to talk about this.

Tree Planting

Planting Cypress Trees

Planting the cypress trees was a huge success and the project attracted the interest of several other students who were not apart of our original group. Students were eager to plant the trees and took an active role in selecting the placement, digging holes, measuring, and securing plants in the ground. Throughout the process facilitators asked students questions to ensure that students understood the purpose of planting trees on their campus. The following are examples of dialogue that took place between facilitators (Q) and students (A).

Q: Why is this the best spot to plant our trees?

A: This is where it floods
A: The trees will be able to soak up some of the water

Q: What benefits will the trees have on your campus?

A: Provide shade to the basketball court
A: Help with flooding

Facilitators ensured that students were aware of the responsibilities and maintenance required in caring for their trees. One student took lead in telling his peers the importance of watering, monitoring for bugs, and being careful not to destroy the trees.

In addition, students actively surveyed the campus for areas where rain barrels could be installed. Students were able to locate several drainage pipes surrounding the gym and cafeteria that would be sufficient areas for installing rain barrels. Students were asked about the importance of placing rain barrels on their campus and why some spots are better for placing rain barrels than others. Students responded by saying that rain barrels would reduce flooding and that they could use the water in watering their trees. Also they noted that it would not be wise to place rain barrels by the entrance of the gym or cafeteria where student could knock them over. One student drew a diagram representing possible locations and was able to share the findings with other students. For our next session, students were given the task to draw a diagram plotting where they would like to plant more trees and to draw a design that would be featured on their rain barrels.

Planting Trees was Awesome!!

I had the best time on Friday with the kids planting trees. Everyone seems really excited about the trees and I think they will want to take care of them and encourage the other kids in the school to so as well. It was cool to see everyone getting in the mud and digging around. I think we got the kid's thinking more along the lines of problem solving now.
I was also happy to hear that there was some money raised for our club for the costs of the trees and paint and other supplies. The school staff seems like they are very interested in the club we have and hopefully that means our ideas will push them to continue a club like this after our time ends.

Planting a Bald Cypress

We will have two bald cypress trees to plant on Friday. The planting of each tree should be a relatively easy task, and the students should have no trouble taking the lead. Each seedling will be housed in a plastic pot/container. To begin to plant the seedlings, we will need to dig holes approximately the same size of the containers in which the seedlings are housed. After doing so, the seedlings can easily be placed into the ground by hand.

According to research, the cypress root collar should be right at or just below the root surface. The roots need to be able to spread out naturally, without twisting or bending. If the soil is wet, the seedling should be held at the root collar and pushed into the ground until the planter's hand reaches the soil. From what I read, containerized seedlings can be successfully planted at any time of year and under most conditions. Ideally, the seedlings should be planted when soil is moist or slightly flooded; they can be planted directly into water.

Finally, an article from the University of Florida mentioned some pitfalls to avoid when planting the seedlings. These included: planting the seedling in a non-vertical position, digging a hole too shallow for proper root placement, or leaving an air pocket near the roots after closing the hole.

Budgeting for Paints

Costs of Paint
Primer- 15.00
Aura Quart-46.00=(2*23.00)
Sub Total 61.00
Tax 5.34
Total 66.34

This is the least amount of paint we can buy.

Costs of Other Supplies
Brushes- 9.70=10 brushes @ .97 each
Drop Cloths- 5.96=2 drop cloths @ 2.98 each
Sub Total 15.66
Tax 1.37
Total 21.45

Grand Total $87.79 (Keep in mind this is an estimate).

Feedback from Principal Rousseau

I talked with Ms. Rousseau last night. She is very supportive, just very busy. Here are the important points.

1. We can get there for 12:30. Students should be in the cafeteria and we can recruit them from there.
2. We nearly have free reign with where we plant trees. Around the basketball court is fine and we may want to scatter them around garden (when that time comes) as not to shade the garden too much. We can get students to design the placement of trees, while asking why we would want to place trees in a particular location.
3. Long term maintenance of trees through summer can be conducted by Ms. Beech or maintenance staff. And then, in fall, students should continue maintenance. We will stress the importance of this as time goes on.
4. Planting a spring crop in the garden is unlikely because there will be no one to take care of it and harvest in summer. But, if we get to that point, we'll see...
5. While the school has no tools, she will gather some shovels. We should also get as many as possible.
6. She says she can get a small budget for paint and brushes together. We will need drop cloths as well. Get ready... probably between $20 and $30. Marie, you need to budget paint and brushes asap (maybe tell store what this is for and ask if any can be donated or discounted). Bertha, once we get this stuff priced, put together itemized budget to submit to Neill Corp. You should be writing the proposal NOW.
7. At the end of project, we should provide Principal Rousseau with a short, to the point bullet point report of what we have done and reasoning behind it. This is called a list of deliverables. Bertha, this will be your responsibility too.
8. Also, on Friday, whoever studies rain barrels should take 1 or 2 students to look for more spots to put rain barrels. Discover what best placement of rain barrel to harvest and then use that water for something. Have a student draw diagram of the site/area.
9. Just to reiterate, as we work on Friday, each of us should ask students for advice and suggestions on what we are doing (but don't force it, moments will arise). Then, use these moments to corroborate their suggestions and use opportunity to further educate. For example, when Kenneth suggested building something like an underground well and pipeline to get rid of water, we can say while that's a very good idea, and ask if it might be better to use natural things like trees, plants, rain barrels and get rid of some of the cement? Why might that be better? Underground well and pipeline would be expensive and might cause more damage to land. Trees and plants and rain barrels can do many good things while creating long term jobs due to maintenance. From what I have witnessed, you all have been very good at this sort of stuff, building confidence through leading and guiding them to figure stuff out for themselves. So, this is just to stay mindful of it.

Whew! that's all for now.

Rain Barrels

In response to students interest in Rain Barrels, the Baton Rouge Recycling Center was contacted in order to honor this request. The recycling center has agreed to order and supply rain barrel(s) for a price of $50.00 (including tax). This amount will be included in proposals submitted for funds. It is anticipated that we will begin designing, and installing rain barrels with students in the next few sessions.

Great photos!

It is clear that our "core" group of students really want to be there and enjoy helping us come up with our ideas. They are all very interested in growing a school garden and planting trees- some are even willing to give up their recess! They understand that they will no longer be at the school by the time the trees are large enough to enjoy, and they are okay with that! They still feel a sense of ownership with the trees because they helped plant them. I hope that we can do something about the singletary trash bin outside- it's simply not enough! If we could start implementing a recycling, we could at least have the students recycle their milk bottles (if they are recyclable plastic). One of the students mentioned that they do not have any soda on campus- a pleasant surprise! If we need supplies for Friday, I know I have at least one shovel in my shed. I'll look and see what all I have.

See you all tonight~

Tour of Campus

On March 5, students showed us the gym, cafeteria, previous garden, basketball court, areas where they play, areas that flood often, and available trashcans. The tour was successful and allowed us to see several issues that the students had discussed. It was brought to our attention that the previous garden was organized by the Principle and maintained by the janitors at the school. Students were excited about replanting at the site of the previous garden, and planting tress by the basketball court. Afterwards students mentioned that they would need equipment like gloves and boots to begin working outside. In addition we learned of at least one possible teacher that may be interested in up keep of this project and the possibility that Transition students may be interested in helping with our project.

The tour consisted of about seven students, a few left early to attend other activities. A few students mentioned that they would prefer to be at cheer leading practice, basketball, or helping there teachers grade papers on Friday's. This might explain why are attendance has dropped from the first session. Also that there is a grade requirement to participate in our group which has taken away several students that appeared be interested. Despite minor challenges there are a few students whom are dedicated to the project. On our next visit we plan to begin planting trees with students

Tour of Campus

Well everything that the kids say is true! Who would have thought? (joking) I guess out of the tour, the most interesting thing to me was the idea of the garden and of all things they were allowed to pick and eat from the garden at their breaks...that's AWESOME! However, first thing's first. I think the trees are a great starting point. The kids were really excited about just the idea of them being on the playground, even with the understanding that they would not be big enough for a few years to climb on. I think the trees by themselves will create much improvement to their campus. Idea: Knowing that the garden is going to take some time to grow, should we start the plants from seeds and maybe they could plant them in the fall? That way the principal could take them home over the summer and make sure that they are watered, since she does the strawberry plants anyways. Then they can be planted in the fall when the kids start back up... I guess that would have to depend on the type of plant.

I agree, everything went great Friday, even though we did not have too many students. The kids seem to get very interested in an idea when we explain the concepts of why it's important. At first, the looks on their faces showed that they were unsure of raingardens. But once we explained why they are useful, they were very interested!

Last summer semester, Jamie and I had some contact with the Sustainablility Committee here on campus while working on a project. It was chaired by Ben Taylor, who unfortunately is no longer employed at Southeastern (to my knowledge?) However, we can still get some contact information to research the recycling programs!?

See you all tonight~

Feb 26. presentations

I agree that the presentations were very successful, students seemed to be very interested in the projects. In regards to gardens, students mentioned that gardens represent spring and that good weather is coming, they liked the idea of having ponds and bridges, and were excited to know that the garden could attract wildlife. During the rain garden presentation, students noted that there was an area near the basketball goal that floods often and they seemed to be excited about designing their own rain garden. The rain barrel demonstration sparked students interest and students wanted to know how large the barrels would be and if they could write their names on the barrels. The recycling clip was a great way to wrap up the session.

Hooray! The kids are becoming more interested!

Here are some ways we could further explain some of this environmental jargon to the kids. The first is a web-page from another type of ecological program for kids. The second is how the rainbarrells are really constructed. It's like we need to explain the importance of this stuff and how it works or the kids won't really grasp it and be able to use it later.
http://sftrc.cas.psu.edu/JuniorForest.html
http://www.raingardens.org/docs/rainbarrel.pdf

What about this list of companies? Should we try them for support or further contacts?
http://articles.directorym.com/Rain_Gardens_Louisiana-r1022227-Louisiana.html

Presentation

So the presentation was GREAT! Too bad we didn't get more input on the situation. My favorite part had to be the hurricane that came along with our rain barrels. :-D So I guess we are officially at the hard work part. Seems as if all the projects were a big hit and we are going to have to implement them all. Time to find contacts!!

Sounds good. Chris, I think you and I will be able to feed off of each other's comments for a smooth and informal presentation. I will bring either pictures to pass around or a poster board of garden pics. We can begin with (1) the video on litter/recycling. Then we can transition to (2) flower and veggie gardens (including bird houses, yes!!), (3) rain barrels, and (4) rain gardens.

Those kids are gonna be blown away by the awesome environment.

Let me know if you all think we should change anything written above =0)

Friday presentations

maybe just keep it simple with presenting each project to everyone. and then we can talk about each one. too much temptation to get up in each others' business for the young ones and people may be finishing at different times, thus, peolpe will be waiting. we haven't had time to really coordinate this.
you should get there early to make sure everything is in order. i have to be in new orleans in the morning but will be there in plenty enough time.
in presenting, remember to start with "one of the things you told us you like is... water and fishing, growing things, butterflies, etc." whatever pertains to the particular project you are speaking of. then say, "based on that we came up with..." this goes for all of us but especially chris and jessica.
all of the stuff you guys are coming up with sounds awseome! jamie can demonstrate the rain barrel model, maria the posters for the rain garden... great stuff yall. this is going to be good.

Small groups- Great idea

By reading the previous posts, I agree with Chris that breaking up into small groups is a great idea (although doing one presentation is fine as well). Yes, we can start with the Rocko video (wonder if the kids know who he is!!!) and then break out into groups at that point. That way everyone can explain the specific boards or visuals they created for the class. I will print visuals for gardens to bring with me (flower/vegetable gardens, shrubs, benches, etc). Even if we spend a few minutes at each table, we'd still have time left for Q&A. We can set our tables up in a circle around the classroom for the students to easily navigate to each.

If you all prefer to hand all presenting over to Chris and myself, we can always gather your visuals and go through the list of ideas as a duo to the class.

Looking forward to it!

Sounding Good

Definitely seems like things are coming together.. Rain Gardens, Rain Barrels, and Recycling is done... so all that is left is is just gardens in general... So maybe that can just be the one that is the different pictures of the butterflies, birds, etc. I know that we are suppose to be giving the presentation and I have been researching some of the stuff, but it sounds as if maybe the moving from table to table is a good idea... kind of like stations as suggested before. The recycle video could be shown first and then maybe a 5 minute explanation of each. Then we could allow for a large question and answer (given by Dr. Burley?).. hmmm... I guess I need to be talking to Dr. Burley. Jessica, I will be in my office tomorrow, so maybe send me an email or something so we can discuss what's going on. I leave my Southeastern account open all day.

Presenting the raingarden idea

I have decided to make a couple of big posters introducing the idea of a rain garden to the students. My first poster will include the opportunities which the gardens will provide the students as far as visual stimulation for the campus and the possibilities for outdoor education. The second poster will elaborate upon how to build the garden from design to implementation and maintenance. I will try to keep both visual aids along the lines of elementary presentation so they will keep the attention of our young minds as well as boost their excitement over the process of creating something unique to their school campus. I have found a web site which encompasses all of these attributes and can hopefully provide the link so that I can post it to the blog so yall can see what I mean.
http://www.appliedeco.com/RainGarden.cfm

The pdf seems really extensive, but I can make it kid-friendly...I have a five year old and we're going to build one in our backyard, so I think it'll be cool. Let me know what's up!

Idea for presenting Rain Barrels

Chris, the Spongebob video is awesome and think that the students will enjoy it. I was unable to find any kid- friendly videos on rain barrels. I was thinking it would be neat to do a brief demonstration on the use of rain barrels. The demo would allow students to identify positive outcomes of using rain barrels such as saving money, reducing energy , and the use of rain water in gardening and other household duties. This would include using smaller items that resemble a drainage pipe, filter(a net to keep larger objects out of water), barrel and hose. I would be using a barrel the size of a soda can and other smaller objects to create a mini rain barrel system. In addition, I have found a few images online that students can pass around to show what rain barrels actually look like. Please let me know what you think of this idea.

Farm to School programs in Louisiana

Hey you guys!
This is the Louisiana website which lists the programs implemented in Louisiana schools. The one, I think, that we should follow more closely is:
The Edible Schoolyard NOLA at Samuel J. Green Charter School


http://www.farmtoschool.org/LA/

I'm getting old.. that video is sooooo Rocko's Modern Life.. they had the Spongebob version but it was definitely a tape over of this one.

Presenting Proposed Projects

After sleeping on it, i decided to sit among the students. i think it would be better to have a male and female present and for me to get myself out of the way a little. i asked jessica to do this one with chris. i will sit among students with others and still get to discuss/educate them as presentation proceeds. jessica and chris will coordinate how they will present.

Ideas

So here's what I think guys... for the recycle part of the session we can show the spongebob video. For rain gardens, I feel that a presentation board should be made to help explain it better. For just regular gardens, I think that we can show printed out pictures of a vegetable garden, butterfly garden, "bird" garden (I found a picture when I googled of gardens with bird houses in them)... these can just be passed around. As far as rain barrels go, I found several videos but they weren't very kid friendly.. a.k.a I was bored after 30 seconds lol.

So let me know what you think about these ideas, and things that ya'll have come up with. This way if there are things that I need to do while at work, I can make that happen before Friday. Jamie talked about doing something, and I think Bertha and Natalie talked about presentation boards or something.

How Goofy!

Spongebob Recycle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfrxFbhy5RI

Learning Landscapes

hey guys... check out this website and here is a youtube video. http://www.learninglandscapes.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUkISUzY39k

Focus Group II

For this session the kids mainly talked about how ugly they felt that their campus was. Everything from the school needing to be painted to the want for green grass. On a wants end, the kids really wanted playground equipment, basketball goals, football fields, and volleyball nets. The kids talked about how they have nothing to do outside at all, they are divided into groups of boys and girls on the playground, and a lot of them just sit down when outside. On an environmental end, I think they were really confused on what constitutes as environmental, but they did talk about composting and having the school provide for more garbage cans so that the trash on the playground was actually picked up. The excuse for all the trash was that they are not enough cans so people are lazy and just leave it on the ground. Of course I took this opportunity to suggest about recycling bins as well. I explained to them of how providing recycling areas would be helpful but also get rid of some of the trash. When talking about outside, I asked about what they do at home as well. Of course I got the stereotypical answers of tv and video games, but they also talked about how they like to go fishing and play with their dogs outside. One of the kids really talked about how they like the responsibility of taking care of their pets.

Feb. 19 session

Dr. Burley and I had a successful session manging to complete the focus group and generate favorable responses from students. The students were able to think of several environmental issues such as air pollution, cutting down trees, littering, vandalism (graffiti), and the use of excessive amounts of water. Some solutions for these issues were to have laws mandating that citizens turn off their power at a certain time, turn off water when brushing your teeth, plant more trees and flowers, use music to motivate citizens to think more environmentally, and create ways to recycle our own paper. Dr. Burley urged students to think critically about their suggestions, ensuring that their ideas would not produce other environmental issues. He explained the over use of chemicals in our society that go into the land and into our bodies, teaching students that we do not want to fix problems by creating new one's. Global warming and the use of solar panels were also mentioned in discussion. Overall, the students were very responsive and eager ro share their ideas. The discussion steered off topic a few times, however we were able to refocus and continue the session.

Focus Group 2

We had so much fun during our second focus group. Jessica and I asked the kids what things they liked to do outside. Basketball, hopscotch, walking around and talking were some of the responses. We had some really cool responses to the changes that the kids would make to the campus. Painting the school, new playground equipment and new basketball goals were among a few. When we asked about what environmental issues the kids had heard about, we learned the most about the students in our group. Litter was something they all knew was a problem and recycling soda cans. Jessica went on to explain how recycling soda cans is profitable, too. "Going Green" was something that they had heard about and how we needed to use less gasoline. Then we talked about some of the things we could do at the school level to address these issues. Picking up trash, planting trees, making a pond with a bridge and some plants, were some of their ideas. As the kids begin to open up to us, we can understand their needs so much better.

Focus Group 2: Feb. 19

Jamie started off our second session by returning to the question about their favorite things to do outside. Answers included soccer, riding bikes, "jump in cannonballs and up in the sky," pretending, playing on jungle gyms, and two newcomers to the group added things like gardening and growing stuff, "rolling around," and making mud pies, and Smoky the Bear. Their suggestions for addressing environmental issues included holding litter clean-ups, promoting recycling, stopping cutting trees (deforestation), re-using paper, turning off lights to cut down on global warming, planting bushes, conserving energy and water. 

Suggestions for school changes included more teachers (like the ones they like), growing strawberries and making ice cream, solar panels, planting trees, flowers and bushes, getting rid of the mud pile by the cafeteria, permeable cement ("gets rid of greenhouse gases"), bringing in plants and animals, solar powered school buses, more stalls in girl's bathroom, more toys for outside (different outside activities), do something with trash.

Focus Group

Though I was late, I am still very excited to be doing this project. I have been doing some reading about rain gardens and it seems to me something in which the kids can participate, since the steps don't become really difficult and the maintenance is pretty easy. I'll be able to show you more by Monday.
Thanks for the blog Natalie! It'll be great!

Michael Pollan on Democracy Now

Check out this truly enjoyable, in-depth interview with Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma.

first focus group meeting Feb. 5

Our (Jamie and I) students were talkers, but Jamie did a good job of transitioning into questions before time was up for drawing. They were talking more than drawing. Some continued to draw while talking while others drew little and mostly talked. Favorite places mentioned were mostly built such as the movies, a stadium, malls, Kingdom Hall (church - the student liked how decorative it is), school, McDonald's. However, horses and California were also mentioned as favorite places. The student who said CA said that he liked it because it was huge and had big buildings and big places. When asked what their favorite things to do outside were they said sports, soccer, run around and chill, walking, riding bikes., hanging with boy friend/best friends. One student also liked signs and drew a lot of signs. And the student who like school liked a particular teacher's class where science and social studies are taught. One more focus group session is in order but this was a good start.

First Focus Group

Amazing job Natalie! I've never blogged before so this is very interesting. I just have to say that Natalie and I had a great group. A few shy ones but other than that, Awesome! Natalie has already posted what our pictures were about; however, I was very surprised on the responses to our first question. They all pretty much had something to do with nature. Even the ones that did not, the students talked about the outside of the buildings and how great/big the yards were. I'm glad that this is still a high priority in a child's life.

Session 1: Feb. 5, 2010

I had a very lively group of four students, including 3 fourth graders and one sixth grader. They all listened intently while I described the project we are doing. It took a while for them to begin drawing their favorite places. It appears these students are all friends- their conversations veered away from their drawings and started centering on mutual friends, "crushes", etc. I had to chime in from time to time to refocus the group, which did help. Drawing took some time, so we only had time for a very brief discussion afterwards. One student drew a beach, with sand, water, and a palm tree. Two students drew river scenes, with fish, swimming, trees, and birds. The last student simply copied a photo of the White House from the classroom wall and said, "This man's gonna be President". His White House depiction did have a tree next to it. While discussing the reasons they drew their particular places, one student stressed that he really loves to fish. This made me consider adding a small fish pond in the school's courtyard (just a thought). Two students simply stated that they like going to the beach. Before the students left, I reminded them that we will be back again soon to discuss our pictures further and to get more ideas.

Session 1 Feb 5th

Dr. Burley and I had a very talkative group of students consisting of one 4th grader, one 5th grader and two 6th graders. Are group appeared to be very eager to discover why we were there and what type of project we would be working on. A female student in the group thought we were school counselors, while another could not believe that we were students at Southeastern. When students were asked to draw their favorite places some responses were school, the mall, the stadium, and church. The drawing activity was a great icebreaker allowing the students to share their thoughts. All the students were excited about the idea of participating in this project and completed the accent form as instructed. At times it was difficulty to keep the students focused on the task at hand. I found myself spending more time redirecting the students than conducting the focus group. The students listened to my directions, however, older students in the group appeared uninterested in hearing what their peers had to say. This was evident when students proceeded to talk while other students were sharing their ideas. Due to the following challenges and time constraints I was unable to finish asking all the focus group questions. I would consider this first meeting as a trail run, that will help us as a group structure future projects with this group of students.

Friday's Focus Group

Chris and I were privileged to work with five friendly, talkative and creative students at Friday's focus group. The students showed interest in working with us and happily participated we asked them to draw a picture of their favorite place in the world. Each of the students drew very different pictures, but all of those pictures depicted an outside environment. One student, having recently taken a trip to Memphis, drew a picture of Graceland and remarked about the size of the lawn in front of the building. Another student drew a picture of her engagement with insects at New Orleans' insectarium. She remarked laughingly about how she had eaten bugs. A third student talked about his drawing of Tickfaw National Park, stating emphatically that from the minute he got there he, "never wanted to leave." He stated that he particularly had liked the cyprus trees. The time alloted for the focus group ran out before the final two students had the opportunity to explain their drawings in detail. Briefly, one stated that he had drawn a peaceful place with goats, and the other that she had drawn the aquarium in New Orleans.

Project: Sustaining Ecology and Community with Eastside Elementary

We are involved in a semester long project where we partner with Hammond Eastside Upper Elementary and students from their Imagination Destination program to educate, assess and begin implementation of sustainability projects on their campus.

Meeting with Eastside Elementary students on Fridays, we have begun exploring different sustainability projects while teaching them about these issues and giving them valuable research schools.