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G.R.O.W

Environmental Education

G.R.O.WEnvironmental Education

November Guest Speaker: Department Of Natural Resources

DNR 101: Exploring Land Management & Responsible Recreation

We’re thrilled to share updates on our exciting new partnership with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR)! On November 14th, we had our first DNR day with Cedars, 1st grade, Kinders, 2nd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade. This engaging day introduced students to the basics of land management, responsible recreation, and stewardship through age-appropriate activities. For students who didn’t meet Clare Sobetski, DNR Youth Education and Outreach Program Manager, during this session, don’t worry! They’ll have their chance on Friday, November 22nd, for their DNR 101 experience.

In other news, last Friday was all about pumpkins, seed saving, and worm care! Pines, Preschool, TK, and 3rd grade had a hands-on day diving into these activities:

  • Pumpkin Seed Saving:
    Students from Pines opened up leftover pumpkins from the GRITS Farm field trip and began the process of saving seeds for next year’s pumpkin patch—Columbia Crest’s pumpkin patch coming soon!

  • Worm Bin Check-In:
    Students checked on the health of our worms in their new home, and they’re thriving! In the coming weeks, they’ll be ready to start breaking down food waste.

  • Mulching and Experimenting with Pumpkins:
    PK, TK, and 3rd grade gathered leaves to mulch our garden beds and helped toss pumpkin remnants (with seeds!) into two different beds. Inspired by the YouTube read-aloud Pumpkin Jack, we’re excited to see if the “full-circle effect” works—by summer, we’ll know if any pumpkins sprout!

If you’re excited about projects like these, don’t forget to submit your Garden Club Committee Form! The form will close on November 30th, so be sure to sign up soon. Our first Garden Club meeting will take place after the PTO Meeting on Monday, December 2nd. We’re looking forward to collaborating with parents and staff to grow our gardening program and support student-led sustainability projects!

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing how these projects blossom—literally and figuratively—in the weeks ahead!


Warmly,

Miss. Brown

Environmental Education Specialist

G.R.O.W

🎃Pumpkin Jack Non fiction | Fall Books (Read Aloud) | STEAM Will Hubbell

Tk Fun!

Stomping on pumpkins is always a good time!

Trails and Recreation

Lulu hard at work!

Seeds need to dry before we put them away to plant!

3rd Grade

Enjoyed using their garden tools to gather the leaves from our Cherry Blossom trees!

Group Photo

Plots

Clare demonstrated how students can conduct a random plot sample by throwing a string over there shoulder, opening up that string into a circle and then counting how many different plant species are within that circle. Vocab word of the day is biodiversity!

Seed Saving

It was teamwork!

Worm Bins

Healthy Red Wiggler!

Cedars

Middle School students were asked questions and they had to stand on either side of the room if they strongly agreed or strongly disagreed, made for great conversations!

Madalyn Brown
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