Pesticide free
schoolyard ~ Thanks to a proposal by Beth Doglio to the
Roosevelt Site Council in the 2004/2005 school year, the
Roosevelt school yard is no longer treated with pesticides. This
move was the first step in establishing the Roosevelt Dreams
Garden. Because this pesticide-free policy is not yet the norm
throughout the OSD, much of the maintenance typically
accomplished by using pesticides now must be done by volunteers
(such as mulching under the fence line and bleachers to keep the
grass and weeds down, weeding the landscape islands in the
parking lot, etc.).
Love your
Schoolyard Day ~ On two Saturday mornings in fall and spring, parents, kids, staff, and neighbors get
together to weed and mulch our garden areas, pick up trash
throughout the school yard, and perform maintenance to the
school landscaping beyond the garden areas listed above.
Summer water &
weed team ~ Parents and neighbors volunteer for a week at a
time to water all of the garden areas. It's also nice to do as
much weeding as we can while watering, especially in preparation
for special events (like when the Garden Rhapsodies Garden Tour
started here in 2007), before school begins in September, if
we are asking for OSD's permission to do something new with the
gardens, or if we are being considered for grant funding. We have a
watering volunteer training session during the week before
school lets out in June.
- At the PTA and
Site Council meetings Melinda attended on Feb. 24, 2009, we
received some good ideas for how to involve more students in
our gardening efforts. We talked about a multi-pronged
approach:
-
Classroom
activities ~ Several teachers said they'd like to dedicate
classroom time to present garden lessons. Parents can work with
these classes to plan and carry out the planting
day. Students can serve as stewards of the planted beds (water, weed, and harvest).
Present
garden lessons to all staff at one of the regular Tuesday staff
meetings.
-
Roosevelt Enrichment
Activities Program ~ We hope to partner with this PTA program to provide opportunities for students to
grow plants from seed, nurture the plants until they are strong
enough to be transplanted into the outdoor garden beds, and water
and weed the plants until they are ready for harvest.
-
Lunch-Time Garden Club ~ Staff suggested this idea, noting
that many students would like to do some quiet, focused outdoor
activity during recess. The students would tend the Dreams or
WaterWise garden beds, under the supervision of a parent
volunteer. This group could also take a lead in planning the
flower show and Harvest Festival activities.
-
Collaboration days ~ (check with office for schedule).
Volunteers could take kids into gardens to plant or do
maintenance.
-
Y-Care ~ Give the supervisors a list of gardening activities
that the kids could do.
A year of community
service
~ At the PTA and Site Council meetings Melinda attended on Feb. 24,
we proposed the gardening group's idea of having a year-long
community service focus at Roosevelt starting next fall. This idea
was very well received, and complements on-going community service
already being done by the Peace Scouts and other groups at our
school.
Growing crops to donate to
the Thurston County Food Bank ~ In collaboration with Garden Raised
Bounty, the Roosevelt Garden Group is re-focusing our student gardening
efforts so they benefit the greater Olympia community.
- Student Community
Service Credits ~ Students in the
Olympia School District can volunteer time to earn
service learning hours. This
arrangement currently applies only to middle- and high-school
students.
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