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| 4x4 for Wild beds, built by kids =) |
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| Danged if you don't, Mr. Mikulski! |
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| A water garden that we grew on our campus! |
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| Salad, for sure, for everyone =) |
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| Climbing on fallen trees... nature stuff, ya know! |
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| Students in the pollinator garden |
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| Monarch caterpillar in the "J" position |
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| Milkweed Day, and the awesome Tailgate Market that 3rd grade made happen! |
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| Alan Barry, selling milkweed starts. This is a particularly beloved plant for Monarch butterflies! |
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| Kate Lis, AmeriCorps Project Conserve worker, representing Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy |
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| Moni Hill gathering the troops |
It has been a great year. Looking into the year ahead, I wanted to encourage anyone and everyone that is happy about the green 'activism' that exists at Dickson -- to please help us find novel ways (or even better, directly contribute) to fund our school's Garden Coordinator position. I don't know... Kickstarter, GoFundMe, there has to be a way that we can pay a fair working wage to someone who spends 20+ hours every week ensuring that teachers and students have as much access to garden-related experiences as they possibly can.
This past year, we had a generous grant that funded MOST of Joan's work at the school. This coming year, it is not clear that the same funds will be made available -- nor is it certain that Dickson's Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) can continue funding any gaps.
It is not an uncommon problem, paying experienced adults a living wage to enable schools to have vibrant, local food-based gardening programs. However I am confident that we can tackle the issue. Let's regroup, when school is back in session in August!
