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Our first planting was in the Fall of 2009; both parents and students participated. The produce was shared with school families at each grade’s Fall Cornucopia program. In our second planting in Spring 2010, preparing and planting the summer garden was third grade’s Earth Day project. Volunteer families tended the plants all summer. In September 2010, third graders harvested herbs and summer vegetables and planted fall crops. We have seven beds planted and will be harvesting these crops through December. Our goal is for every student to bring home a sample of at least one crop.
Fall planting - lettuce, carrots, violas, garlic, shallots, kale, cabbage, spinach, arugula, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, and rainbow chard, turnips, radishes, and parsnips.
Spring planting - sage, nasturtiums, parsley, thyme, rosemary, Irish potatoes, chives, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, oregano, cilantro, and lemon basil. Sweet potatoes were added in June.
Gardening and plant-based exploration is a wonderful tool we are so fortunate to be able to offer our children. The organic garden is a place where kids can achieve learning goals recommended by the Georgia National Performance Standards while engaging them in a stimulating yet calming environment. The plants can be measured, counted, weighed, arranged, planned and cared for. Thank you to everyone who has generously donated to the PTA Annual Fund to make this program possible.
Gardening at school has been shown to improve children’s readiness to learn, encourage pupils to become more active in solving problems, and stimulate a love of learning by translating sometimes dry academic subjects into practical, real world experiences (Research by the Royal Horticultural Society published summer, 2010; and Sage Colleges in Troy, NY, summarized in Organic Gardening Volume 57:6).
Contact Tina Wilkinson (tinaw@wilkinsons.com or 678-395-6965) for more information.
| Items Collected |
Recycling Information |
| Plastic bottle caps - NEW 2010 |
Aveda recycles these into new caps for their beauty products. |
| Plastic sandwich baggies - NEW 2010 |
TerraCycle™ recycles these into other useful products. |
| Elmer's brand glue containers - NEW 2010 |
TerraCycle™ upcycles the plastic into innovative new products. |
| Drink pouches (Capri Sun, etc...) |
TerraCycle™ converts the materials into fashion bags, tote bags, pencil cases and other innovative products |
| Crayons |
Crazy Crayons recycles our old crayons into nifty single- and multi-colored crayons. Please keep the wrappers on the crayons. |
| Batteries |
alkaline and lithium |
| Cell Phones |
All are accepted. Think Recycle will plant a tree for every 24 we collect. |
| Inkjet & laser printer cartridges |
All are accepted. Think Recycle will plant a tree for every 24 we collect. Please handle them gently as broken cartridges cannot be reused. |
| Plastic bottles |
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| Aluminum cans |
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| Paper |
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Help us keep these items out of landfills by placing them in the collection bins in the front hall. In addition to environmental benefits, Vanderlyn will receive 2¢ for each Capri Sun pouch, plastic baggie and Elmer's glue container collected, up to $100 for each cell phone and up to $10 for each cartridge.
Lunch Bunch volunteers will help collect empty drink pouches and sandwich baggies in the cafeteria.
Is your company interested in participating in the printer cartridge recycling program? We may be able to arrange pickup at your Dunwoody office.
Contact Sandi Strasberg (srudd@hotmail.com or 770-633-9350) for more information.
--Every day is Earth Day |
