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.