Madison Area GROW Coalition

Lakeview Elementary’s Outdoor Classroom is GROWing!! Calling all volunteers…

growmadison — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:38:19 +0000

From Susie Hobart, teacher at Lakeview Elementary on Madison’s North Side.

Lakeview Elementary School is one of five schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District to win a grant and participate in an innovative, three-year garden-based learning pilot project funded by the Madison Community Foundation. Susie is a teacher on the school’s team.

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We need your help on Monday, May 13th at 3:30. Read on for an update…

Led by our volunteer contractor (Tim Connor) and volunteer architect (Tom Hirsch) on Saturday, May 4th, we measured and squared the structure for our pavlion, dug five foot holes, set the 300 pound poles, braced the structure and put up one of the 500 pound headers. Sunday, May 5th, four dads, one gym teacher, one mom and one friendly lawyer put the last header up, up, up.

Monday, Lycon arrived and poured concrete around the footings, and our architect’s grandaughters smoothed the tops. (Funded by the LOWES Foundation)

Next step – Monday, May 13th, after school around 3:30 we hope to put up the rafters and if really lucky, screw down the tongue and groove plywood roof sheathing. WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Next we will construct frames around the posts 30″ from the ground and have Lycon come back and pour colored concrete in the framing, giving our footings above ground stability. If we are really lucky, Brandon Lincoln will arrive and lay the roofing. If not that day, soon.

Once the pavilion is constructed, our very own art teacher, Mr. Vang, will install the hundreds of 3 x 3 inch nature based clay tiles made by our very own k-5 artists from the top of the concrete to the top of the structure. (Funded by the Madison Arts Council) Our 4/5th graders will be installing a rain garden between the school and the pavilion to take advantage of the runoff and create a bird friendly habitat. (Funded by National Forestry Foundation)

A wonderful volunteer, Dean, is working with students to build 4 eight foot cedar picnic tables (funded by Willy St) that will serve as seating in the pavilion. Our friend, Mr. Richard, a retired art teacher, has helped some of our budding artists paint nature murals on the bench seats. Under the pavilion will also be our garden kitchen i.e. a stainless steel table and sink from Kessenichs. (Funded by GHC and the Dane County/ City of Madison Health Department.)

Our new garden beds are up! And thanks to James Kudzin’s carpentry and our GROW grant, and Vesna’s earth leveling, we now have twelve beds. Two for strawberries, one a Hmong demonstration bed, one a sensory garden and eight for eight of our classrooms. Our K-1st graders planted seeds in science, and now the older students get to transplant them.Moms, Vesna, Zivile and Melissa are all helping classes plant the beds.

We are working to clear the buckthorn, honeysuckles and garlic mustard from the woods. Students are creating walking paths and sitting areas. We are hoping to create a meditative walking path through the woods on our UW Health sponsored Wellness Day, June 10th.

A small group of interested north siders are investigating the purchase of the wetlands adjacent to the school. It could provide a wonderful educational ecosystem for students.

Did you notice that our bushes adjacent to the parking lot are disappearing? We will be replacing the scraggly bushes with edible bushes…service berries and a variety of raspberries.

We are so fortunate to have so many volunteers and parties willing to help us financially. Our friends at the WI Environmental Education Board and Keith Warnke of the DNR were the catalysts last summer.

The plans for the pavilion are in the office windows and garden area plans posted upstairs. Stop and see them. Better yet, come on back around the school, and see what is going on in our exciting OUTDOOR CLASSROOM. Feel free to pull some garlic mustard or stir the compost bins. And if you can, please join us this Monday or at our next pavilion work day.

–
Susan J Hobart, MSEd, NBCT
Lake View Elementary School
Madison Metropolitan School District

GROW Garden-based Learning Project: Year 2 Application now available

growmadison — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:00:43 +0000

The GROW Garden-based Learning project, funded by the Madison Community Foundation, is looking for five Dane County schools (two middle and three elementary schools) who are ready to jump in! Download an application for the 2013-14 cohort!

Adding up our recent Facebook posts

growmadison — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:52:40 +0000

If you are not a Facebook user or haven’t had a chance to look over the great outdoor learning resources we’ve assembled from around the Internet, take a gander at the following list–all resources posted to the GROW Facebook page over the past year! If you have something to add, get in touch!

Teacher Resources

Community Building

Schoolyard Greening/Outdoor Learning

Obeseity Prevention

Psychology

Gardening

Healthy Food

The Locavore School (UW CALS)
Let’s Eat for $7.70: Become fast friends with Slow Food UW Cafe

New! Design Gallery

growmadison — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 06:04:24 +0000

Check out our new Design Gallery, chock full of ideas for schoolyard redesign! Just click on an image and scroll through more than 150 images to engage your design brain! Show your classroom, and see what they think.

Pallet walk. Where does it lead???

Why outdoor learning? Check out our new GROW Coalition Video

growmadison — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 20:54:41 +0000

“Non-cognitive skills” and child development

growmadison — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 17:54:42 +0000

Read this article, then ask yourself: How does outdoor learning foster these kinds of “noncognitive skills?” We invite comments or examples from your experiences.

Opting Out of the “Rug Rat Race” | Wall Street Journal | Weekend, Sept 8-9, 2012

GROW Garden Pilot: Apply Now!

growmadison — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:26:26 +0000

This year 5 MMSD schools [3 Elementary and 2 Middle] will have the opportunity to build their school garden programs.

Participating schools will receive support to establish a school-based leadership team to:

(1) integrate the garden into core learning subjects,
(2) build community engagement in the garden, and
(3) build new or enhance existing gardens to serve as a school and community space for
learning.

Support will include:

* Extended employment to participating teachers.
* Facilitation of a garden design gathering, support in community engagement,
and installation / enhancement of the garden.
* Substantial technical and material assistance ($8,000 value) for the
garden build/expansion and coordination of the Build event

TO APPLY

* Email growmadison@gmail.com to notify us of your intent to apply by
September 19th.

* Start putting together your leadership team right away as you will
need to work together to complete the application

* Attend an optional grant Information Session:

Monday, September 17th or
Tuesday, September 18th

from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in Room 100A, Doyle Administration Building

* Complete the application and submit a hard copy to Lisa Wachtel, Room 125,
Doyle Administration Building AND email the application to growmadison@gmail.com
by 5:00pm on October 5th, 2012.

DOWNLOAD: GROW Schools Application 2012-13

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS OCTOBER 5, 2012.

growmadison — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:25:55 +0000

Don’t forget! GROW Coalition GARDEN MOB Tomorrow!

Friday, August 17, 4:30-6:30pm
Sherman Middle School
1610 Ruskin Street, Madison, WI 53704
Meet others involved in school garden projects, and learn about great youth garden activities!

And check out these great August 2012 articles:

Netherwood Knoll Arboretum Takes Shape (Oregon Connector)
Troubled kids find confidence and connections in Forward Learning wilderness program (Isthmus)
Women Flourish in Farming (Isthmus)

New grant will energize garden-based learning in schools

growmadison — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 21:43:40 +0000

Check out the Madison Metropolitan School District’s short video sharing the news of the new grant! Many thanks to the Madison Community Foundation for recognizing the collective potential of the GROW Coalition and the many benefits incorporating garden-based learning into the curriculum.

For information about the initiative, contact Rachel Martin at Sustain Dane, rachel@sustainddane.org. (Rachel [at] sustaindane [dot] org.

Major grant will boost garden-based learning in area schools

growmadison — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:02:46 +0000

The Madison Community Foundation has announced a $350,000 award to support outdoor, garden-based learning in over a dozen Dane County schools over the next three years. The grant will fund the work of the GrassRoots/OutdoorWonder (GROW) Coalition – a group of organizations working to support outdoor learning opportunities in our community by creating a network of resources and a unified voice for advocacy.

The Coalition member organizations – the Madison Metropolitan School District, Community GroundWorks, the Community Action Coalition and UW-Extension – plan to work with 15 elementary and middle schools (5 schools per year) within and outside of MMSD to foster garden design and installation, engage communities to maintain gardens, and provide professional development for teachers interested in using gardens as vehicles for learning.

Over the summer, the Coalition will be developing a process for selecting pilot school sites; during Year One all participating schools will be selected from the Madison Metropolitan School District. Schools from other Districts will be eligible to participate in Years Two and Three.

For more information please contact: Rachel Martin, Project Manager – Rachel@SustainDane.org