Greening our Courtyard

We hope to transform our sterile, paved courtyard into a diverse, green, vibrant learning area. The transformed courtyard will have raised vegetable garden beds, native plants to attract birds, bees and insects, eco-friendly benches, a rain barrel and a composter. The learning area will be utilized by students, staff and parents of our inner city school.

Update (February 17, 2011)

Our eco club has been busy planning, fundraising, meeting with experts, and budgeting to get ready for the transformation of our courtyard into a green learning area. Attached is a photo of the courtyard before building, which will start soon. More photos as we progress.

Update (June 30, 2011)

Our courtyard has now been transformed into a "green" learning area with raised flower and vegetable gardens with seating areas for students. Our class has harvested potatoes, lettuce, dill and radishes and hope to have tomatoes, carrots, blueberries, cucumbers and squash ready when students are back in September. Students planted, observed and recorded the changes in their vegetables over the past few months. They were amazed at how good their home grown fresh produce tasted and shared it with others. This project also inspired students to grow their own vegetables at home.
Future plans include a watering system using rainwater and possibly more gardens in the other school courtyard. Students, staff and parents were involved in this adventure and it will continue on next year.Thanks to Imagineaction for providing the funds for this exciting project.