Title: Getting Started on School Ground Greening
1Getting Started on School Ground Greening
2Agenda
- Introduction to Evergreen Learning Grounds
- Why start a greening project?
- Benefits of green school grounds
- The 5-step process
- Discussion
3What is Evergreen?
- Evergreen was founded in 1991 and is a national
non-profit environmental organization with a
mandate to bring nature to our cities through
naturalization projects.
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5The Learning Grounds Program
- Helps schools green their grounds by providing
- Hands-on expert advice
- Funding
- How-to resources, in print and online
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9Goals for School Ground Greening
- To improve childrens health and well-being
- To nurture child development
- To increase ecological diversity
- To increase educational use
- To improve energy- and cost-efficient design
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14Why are Green School Grounds Important?
- 25 percent of the school day is spent outside
- They offer exciting ways to deliver the
curriculum and teach ecological literacy - They can protect children from harmful exposure
to sun
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17What the research tells us
18A Place for Doing
19A Place for Thinking
20A Place for Feeling
21A Place for Being
22Evergreen Research
23Research Highlights
- 90 of respondents observed an increase in
student enthusiasm for learning - 72 of respondents observed that student ability
to retain knowledge had increased - 77 of respondents reported student ability to
think more creatively had increased
24Impacts of Green School Grounds
Educational Developmental Social
25- Provide a variety of opportunities for cross
curricular work
26- Improve student behaviour
27- Increase the quality and diversity of play
28- Provide safer spaces for children
29Green School Grounds
30Barriers and Challenges
31Barriers and Challenges
- Maintenance
- Lack of community support
- Volunteer burnout
- Staff / parent / teacher mobility
- Budget limitations
- Vandalism
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43The School Ground Greening5-step Process
44School Ground GreeningStep 1 Get Started
- Form a committee of volunteers
- Plan a meeting with committee members
- Prepare for volunteers
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47Identifying Common Themes
- Student council meetings
- Identify changes they would like to see
- Conduct in-class activities to capture student
feedback - Provide questionnaires
48School Ground GreeningStep 2 Plan Your Project
49Key Questions to Ask Yourself
- Have you checked with the caretaker and Grounds
Department, the main office and the police about
required sight lines for safety, fire drills and
security? - Where are your sources of water?
- Are there any community concerns?
- Where does snow get piled up in the winter?
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51The Big Picture Creating your Conceptual Design
52Creating your Conceptual Plan
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55School Ground GreeningStep 3 Implement Your Plan
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57Celebrate!
58School Ground GreeningStep 4 Maintain Your Site
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60Allocate tasks
- Weeding
- Watering
- Mulching
61Mulch is MagicSpread it!
62Seasonal Strategies
Spring Summer Autumn
Good time to weed and rake Store tools onsite in a secure area Thank summer helpers
Have a spring celebration and recruit more volunteers Make sure maintenance teams have access to an outdoor tap, which may require a special key. Let leaves and cuttings stay
Watch for the first robins to appear Provide written details on watering Use debris for art projects, lessons
Have weekend workshops to learn about topics such as native plants Post a maintenance schedule and mail it out Good time to weed and prune
63School Ground GreeningStep 5 Evaluate and
Monitor
64Before
After
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66Thank you!
- Hurry up and go slowly!
- Take handouts
- Fill out workshop evaluation
- Questions?
67Photo Credits
- Dolores Altin (53, 54)
- Adrina Ambrosii (7b, 7e, 7f ,7g, 10 ,11, 32, 48,
66) - Sylvie Bazinet (50, 29)
- Joshua Berson (24, 29, 33, 56, 57)
- Heidi Campbell (6, 7d, 8)
- Robert Christie (18, 22, 25)
- Cam Collyer (15 ,19 ,59)
- Jessika Corkum (64, 64)
- Bruce Day (30, 34 ,35 ,36 ,37 ,61 ,65)
- Evergreen (7c, 28)
- Kathy Goble (1, 12, 21)
- Stella Grigorakis (46)
- John Hillis (20, 29, 29)
- Ruth Hoefner, Verna Schneider (13)
- Brian Hydesmith (26)
- Seana Irvine (60)
- Krista Long (16)
- Denny Manchee (41)
- Debby Morton (27)
- Roche McAuley Advertisers (4, 7a, 7h, 7i)
- Karen Whitehorn (38, 39, 40, 42)
- World Wildlife Fund for Nature (17)
- ZiG (2)
68www.evergreen.ca