Part 3: Community Partnerships
March 2014:
Recycling Presentations during lunch shifts. Alicia Moore, Recycling Program Coordinator for Howard County, visited Waverly. She showed the recycling video to each lunch shift then explained the importance of recycling and took questions from the audience.
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Howard County Conservancy Visits Fifth Grade - Winter 2014
The conservancy came to discuss different animals that use the Chesapeake Bay as a habitat. They explained how the bay has become polluted and what we can do to decrease this pollution.
The conservancy came to discuss different animals that use the Chesapeake Bay as a habitat. They explained how the bay has become polluted and what we can do to decrease this pollution.
April 2013 & 2014: Students participated in Live Green; Howard County's 20 minute cleanup during their recess time. Photos from our day are below.
Fall 2013:
Cub Scout Pack 323 performed a Community Service Project in our courtyard. They said it was a great way to say thank you for the school's support. They filled up 8 bags with leaves and debris!
April 2013: The Howard County Master Gardeners presented "You Me and the Chesapeake Bay" to our 4th Grade students.
School Years 2013-2014: The Master Gardeners offered consultation regarding the school's courtyard and plans on how the space could be used for environmental learning.
School years 2013-2014 (Coming Spring 2015): The Howard County Master Gardeners offer a variety of youth education presentations for schools. Several of our grade level teams have invited the Master Gardeners to share their very engaging lessons with our students. First grade classes learned about the positive impact worms can have on our environment with the "1001 Worms." "We Like Spiders" introduced second graders to their curriculum unit on spiders. Fourth grade classes enjoyed the presentations: "Native Plants", "Good Bugs, Bad Bugs" and "You, Me and the Chesapeake Bay." The presentations included opportunities for hands-on learning and live examples were shared. The engaging presentations enabled the students to understand and explain the concepts as demonstrated in follow-up activities. This year they will come and present on April 8th about gardening.
The Master Gardeners in first grade for the worm presentation:
An example of a culminating activity from one of the presentations was the pamphlets created by the first graders to inform their families about the benefits of worms. Following the visit from the Master Gardener, the teachers taught a lesson about worms in their classrooms. Then the students took their classroom work to technology class and created the pamphlets shown below. Some of the pamphlets are on display in our Library Media Center.
Winter 2012: Our PTA in conjunction with our partner schools, St. Johns Lane and Hollifield Station brought the author Sneed Collard, III to Ellicott City. Our PTA also purchased a classroom copy of The Forest in the Clouds for RECC through 5th grade. Teachers read this book to their classes prior to Mr. Collard's visit. His background as a marine biologist shines through in his literary works. Our students were treated to three different age-appropriate presentations on his books and love for the environment.
Spring 2013: Salt Creek Gardens, Inc. provided assistance in getting the plants for our butterfly garden and planting. Mr. George LeBrun, a landscape architect, designed the butterfly garden.
Fall 2014: We began a partnership, through the Howard County Conservancy, with representatives of the Watershed Academy. A parent, Karen Nook, was trained and certified through the Howard County Conservancy. She met with a member of the Green School Committee to share ideas that Waverly could incorporate throughout the year to encourage water conservation and to reduce water pollution. At our PTA Fall Fest event, representatives from Watershed Academy and the Green School Committee set up a booth at the Waverly Fallfest with a game about the water cycle that was used by the nature conservancy. The game introduced the students to the effects of water run off. Information was provided to parents on seven simple strategies they could implement to reduce storm water pollution. In the winter, staff from the Conservancy, through the Watershed Academy, presented information to the fifth grade students about how to be good stewards of our water resources and how to prevent water run off in the community. The stewards from the Watershed Academy, a member of the Master Gardeners, and representatives from the Green School Committee met throughout the year to brainstorm ideas that could be implemented at Waverly. A survey of our school area provided ways that we can prevent water run-off. Currently, we are working to install a rain barrel within our school grounds. It will be used to provide water for our school gardens. They also provided professional development for our staff on ways to reduce water run-off and how to protect this valuable resource. Below you can find an agenda from a professional development opportunity offered to staff:
neighborhood%20source%20assessment%20of%20waverly%20school%20grounds.docx | |
File Size: | 128 kb |
File Type: | docx |