Sustain DCSD
March 2015 Newsletter
Planning for Spring!
EVENT CANCELLED! Coffee Hour with Green Up Our Schools
Green Up Our Schools is a grant program that supports elementary school waste reduction & recycling programs. Schools accepted into the program receive $2,000 over 3 years and personalized assistance achieving their goals.
Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015, 03:00 PM
Castle Rock Adventist Hospital, Meadows Boulevard, Castle Rock, CO, United States
How to Start a School Garden
Step 1: Develop your garden vision - start small, but leave room to grow.
- Make sure you include the principal, as well as teachers, parents, students in developing the vision.
- How many children/classrooms will participate?
- Do you want an in-ground or container garden?
- Do you need a fence?
- Who will be responsible for maintenance?
- How will you fund the start-up and long-term process?
- Who is your garden team?
- What is the role of parent and community volunteers?
Step 2: Contact the Sustainability Office
- Contact Courtney Kuntz at 720-663-1206 or Courtney.Kuntz@dcsdk12.org.
- Courtney will help to develop a plan and explore learning opportunities to support you as you build your garden.
Step 3: Work with the District to determine the site for your garden
- Contact Jesse Downey at 303-387-0429 or Jesse.Downey@dcsdk12.org. Jesse helps to ensure student learning environments meet or exceed current and projected instructional needs via direct oversight, coordination, and management of building modifications projects to support 21st Century learning. He is the first step to determine the best location and structure for each school garden.
- Water - close, easy access to water is essential
- Sunlight - a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight a day is necessary to grow most vegetables and flowers. Check potential sites throughout the day and anticipate seasonal changes in the sun's location. Watch out for shading by nearby trees, buildings, hills, etc.
- Access - the site should be close to classrooms and easily accessible. If the garden is too far away, it will be difficult to get and keep teachers involved in the garden.
- Size and type of garden - what type (in-ground or container) of garden fits your site, budget, and people-power?
- Security - be sure the site is located in an area that will discourage vandalism and minimize damage from playground havoc, dogs, and foot traffic.
- Longevity - will the site remain available in the foreseeable future?
Step 4: Build your garden.
- Clear the land
- Lay out the garden
- Build the planning beds
- Soil
- Soil amendments improve soil structure to improve water retention and absorption, provide good drainage and supply important plant nutrients - you can purchase soil amendments or make your own with compost!
- Irrigation - there are a variety of options, including hose and nozzle, sprinklers, drip irrigation systems, timers, and so forth. This depends on your budget and the commitment of your team members. We encourage schools to use water off the building. If you use sprinklers, they could break or over water and it could impact your school's entire landscape.
- Mulch
- Walkways
Step 5: Plant your Garden
- Choose the right crops for the right seasons.
- Follow the directions on your plants/seeds.
- Find a theme - tie your planting to the GVCs in science, social studies, language arts, and art!
Step 6: Garden Maintenance
- Have an adult oversee garden maintenance if it is done by students.
- Assign students to four jobs in the garden - water, groom (weeding), pest control, and report.
- Celebrate your harvest!
This guide is adapted from My Healthy School.
Gold Rush Elementary
Flagstone Elementary
Heritage Elementary
Resources
Sustainability Program "Meeting Space"
Don't forget to use the Sustain DCSD collaborative space on Google Drive called Sustainability Program. If you aren't able to access it, just email us and we will invite you to it. In it, you will find:
- Open Discussions - This is our meeting space! We want all of you to post your questions, concerns, problems, and solutions in here so that we can learn from each other. There are so many amazing initiatives all around the district, and it will be great to be able to reach out to one another!
- Eco-Schools - Here is some information on their auditing process.
- Elementary Schools, High Schools, and Middle Schools - You will find your school name in each of these files. These are meant for you to share photos (make sure you have media releases from all students!), success stories, data, project outlines, anything you want us and other schools to know about your programs.
- Incentive Program FY 14-15 - This is everything you need to know about this year's Energy, Waste and Consumption, and Behavioral Incentive Program. Be sure to register every year in order to participate.
- Sustainability Updates - This is where the District Sustainability Team will share updates with you and file our newsletters.
Sustainability at Douglas County School District
Email: sustainability@dcsdk12.org
Website: www.dcsdk12.org/sustainability
Location: 3002 State Highway 83, Franktown, CO 80116, United States
Phone: 720-663-1206
Facebook: facebook.com/sustainDCSDK12
Twitter: @sustainDCSD
LeeAnn Westfall
- Waste Management questions and concerns
- Energy, Waste, and Behavioral Incentive Programs
- Eco-Schools USA
- U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools
Courtney Kuntz
Courtney is a service-learning and green schools advocate. Call her for things such as:
- School presentations on recycling, composting, energy, etc.
- Consulting for your sustainability project
- Red Apple Recycling, Crayola ColorCycle, Terracycle
Mike Duncan
Mike is our energy guru, helping to track data and usage for all schools. He can help you with:
- Finding out your baseline energy data for auditing purposes
- Provide guidance on how to read your energy data
- Provide reports on your energy use