GARDENING AT 610 HENRY

Many of us at BNS and BCS think it's important for urban kids to experience growing their own food, especially given the environmental, public health, and economic challenges we are currently facing. To that end, in spring of 2009, we built raised beds on a strip of soil along the south side of the building.  It took the combined effort of a sixth-grade environmental group, parents, staff and outside volunteers, co-ordinated by Matt Sheehan and Mirem Villamil, to dig up the existing yews, prepare the ground, and build the beds to hold new, organic soil.

Our school garden benefits from the rich compost produced by several extra-large outdoor worm bins, holding up to 40 pounds of worms each, and fed by cafeteria waste. All the elementary school's lunch waste is currently composted. The garden also soaks up rainwater collected in a structure designed by fifth graders, and held in a 255-gallon tank in the schoolyard.

Our planting space includes large wooden planters built on pallets (for mobility). These are used by the first grade for a seed-to-salad program. We have raised beds on the Coles St. side of the building, where we produce salad and cold-weather crops in fall and spring, and we grow a 3 Sisters garden in the summer for the 4th grade curriculum. The pre-K gardens in two large galvanized tubs and the kindergarten takes care of our street trees, adding compost and mulch, watering, and planting groundcovers and annuals. This spring, the sixth-grade garden club built more mobile planters and started many trays of seedlings. High schoolers have been doing plant-based PBAT (performance based assessments) projects resulting in even more beautiful seedlings for the garden. Two afterschool groups are doing specific garden-based learning, including designing and planting a butterfly garden, cooking with harvested produce, and hands-on environmental action.

Also, BNS-BCS has been awarded a Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant to create an outdoor classroom - an Eco-Casita - which will support all our gardening and outdoor learning projects. We're hoping to have our eco-casita up and running by December 2010!

Our goal is for the 610 Henry St. garden to form an integral part of the life, culture and curriculum of both BNS and BCS... and to have a lasting and positive impact on our kids.

Mirem Villamil, Garden Coordinator and BNS parent

For more information on BNS-BCS green initiatives, contact Matt Sheehan (sheehan.matthew@yahoo.com) or Mirem Villamil (mirem@villamil.org).

photos of high school woodworking helpers

What are you making?

BCS students are helping kindergarteners with woodworking projects. Photos coming soon...

We Love Graphic Novels!

Students from Koren's middle school selective on graphic novels were invited to present their work in Amy's 1st grade class. They talked about their process creating superheroes and writing graphic novels and shared their preliminary story ideas.  After hearing these stories based on superheroes, Amy's students created sketches of themselves as superheroes. Later in the week they will work in groups to create life sized superheroes with super powers. Once everyone's work is done, the "big kids" will return to share their completed stories and view the "little kids" creations.

And that's not all ... Similar presentations will happen in Rachel and Andrew's 2nd grade class and Beth's 4/5 class.

And that's not all ... A BNS parent who is a graphic novelist will visit Amy and Koren's classes to talk to the kids about his work.

BATTERIES: Special Item of the Month to celebrate Earth Day

HELP SAVE OUR PLANET! 

• To celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd we are collecting old batteries during the whole month of April.  We will dispose of them properly with the help of the organization ePlanet eWaste. 

• Bring in your old batteries to our "recycling center" in front of the parent room by the front entrance, and check out important facts about batteries and how they affect our environment.

• Recycling batteries keeps heavy metals out of landfills and the air!

• Recycling saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries!

Great DVDs made available by in-house crew

Vincent, BCS teacher, and his crew of video students, have now filmed two BNS events: the Extravaganza and the 4th grade musical. Using multiple cameras from different angles they are creating precious souvenirs of these annual events. Available for $10 each, there are still copies left of the Extravaganza, and the 4th grade musical is soon to be "released". The latter will be a fantastic 2 for 1 deal as it will also include a film made by Jonathan, BNS music teacher, on the "making of the 4th grade musical" with lots of rare footage from the classroom.

Send me an email if you'd like more information about purchasing one or both of these dvds.

Photos of reading partnership between 11th grade and BNS

Check out these photos and see previous post dated Monday February 8 to learn more about this great unity project.