Richmond Super Green Team
4H Sustainable Living After school club
It’s the Super Green Team with yet another exciting adventure! We are breaking ground on a new 4H Sustainable Living after school club - and we need YOUR input!
The Richmond 4H Sustainable Living Club builds on the garden and sustainability efforts already in place. Imagine your child exploring the depth and breadth of how sustainability is woven in the fabric of our lives: food preparation and production, urban gardening/farming (chickens anyone?) health and fitness (biking?), art, energy, conservation, technology, public service and much more! Students and parents can share their own special areas of expertise as we explore our beautiful world.
We will be using 4H Curriculum that is child-centered, non-competitive, provides “hands-on” learning and involves family and community. This is an all ages group and we’ll work as a unit and in differentiated teams. The leadership, goals and direction of the club will be student driven, reflecting their needs and interests (with adult guidance and support) Youth leadership is a key component of this organization.
Membership Goal:
To establish a successful club we need at least 4 parents willing to co-plan and assist the youth-centered curriculum and a bunch of kids! A minimum of 12-14 students committed active participation gives us an exciting start. Each participating student must be enrolled in 4H.
Meeting Location and Frequency:
We have two planning meetings scheduled:
April 14th, 2:30-4:00 Science Project work party and planning meeting for after school 4H
April 28th, 2:30-4:00 Organizing and Activity (Please bring a snack to share)
We would like to meet twice a month; currently we are meeting on the 1st and 3rd Weds. of the month. This is open for input. We would continue to meet throughout the summer although the days/times may change.
Cost:
$25 to enroll each student in 4H for a year, no more than $50 total for families with two or more children enrolled in the club. (scholarships available)
Small materials fee on an as needed basis.
Garden seed fundraiser
Order Online at www.botanicalinterests.com, click Fundraising With Seeds tab at top right. Select Richmond under Schools list.All orders come with a seed starting guide, orders ship promptly and shipping is very reasonable.Order anytime, 365 days a year. Richmond's gardens get 40% of every purchase!
Thank you for helping our gardens grow!
Super Green Team
Our mission statement:
The Super Green Team supports our children's education with hands on experiences that promote resource conservation and build healthy communities.2009 - 2010 goals
- Adding more cultural aspects to the garden.
- Recruit a volunteer intern to help coordinate and support staff and children in Super Green Team activities.
- Purchase a green house to expand our seed starting and growing program.
- Expand Native observation garden.
- Expand on school recycling.
- Introduce event recycling.
- Coordinate with Art4Life on school recycling and conservation plan.
- Introduce real spoons and forks in the lunchroom.
- School wide energy conservation.
2008 - 2009 accomplishments
- Built garden gate and kiosk
- Finished planting native garden in south garden. Began planting natives in North Observation Garden, installed a nurse log.
- Garden Room Reps have spent 800+ hours taking the kids to the gardens - Wow!
- Purchased growing stations for kids to grow starts in, that were filled to the brim with plants to take home and sell at the Spring Festival.
- Established a community partnership with On The Move Portland to help with some summer watering and maintenance.
- Hosted Richmond's first Harvest Festival.
- 5th grade student council completed a waste audit in January to discover what's in our trash.
- Reusable lunch trays were introduced in March, and our school has eliminated the largest component of our waste stream (over 900 Styrofoam trays per week!)
- Monthly Walk and Ride to School Wednesdays
- 5th graders introduced "Compost Fridays" and have diverted 60 pounds of food waste weekly to worm bins in the North Garden.
- Lunchroom cafeteria helpers are now wearing reusable and washable cotton aprons, instead of disposable plastic aprons.
- Became an OREGON GREEN SCHOOL!
Cafeteria helpers needed
We've had a successful fall, washing trays in the lunchroom and saving 13,000 styrofoam trays from going to local landfills. I want to thank the volunteers who have come in each week to wash our lunch trays: Ann Hanson, grand-parent Maggie Cramer, Karen Tingey, Lori Gentry and Russell Chamberlain. Thank you!
We have a 3 month schedule for our tray washers, so we're looking for a few new washers! This schedule will run from January 4th - March 19th.
We need a washer on Monday and we need a washer either Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are available to help any of these days, please let me know. The shift runs from 11:45 to 12:30. It's a quick job!
If you would like to help, or have questions, contact Julie Gefroh.
Background
A Learning Lab Garden has been planted for the area just to the south of the playground areas, taking care to not interfere with the use of the field for sports. It will more than triple our current garden space and be organic.
We hope to utilize water from the school's roof to grow a "bioswale" – a landscape feature with native water-loving plants that sends water into the earth instead of into our over-taxed sewer system. Plans also include an outdoor teaching shelter.
The big goal here is to provide the students and faculty of Richmond Elementary with a hands-on outdoor learning laboratory which uses and demonstrates sustainable practices, supplements all academic subjects, and eventually supplies our kitchen with fresh produce!
Mission Statement of the Garden Committee:
- The garden is a place where students can experience hands-on learning outdoors.
- The garden is a living laboratory for all subject areas, ranging from language to math, science to art.
- The garden is for the use of all classes, and using it does not obligate a class to work in it.
- The garden is pesticide-free and a safe environment for children and others.
- The garden is a place of nature, excitement, learning, and fun.
Photos of the South Learning Lab Garden
