There is a long history of creating beautiful gardens at Hillcrest. Many parents have volunteered their time and energy to transform the front of the school, hillside and classroom patios. Hillcrest's monthly Ecoliteracy program, run by two parent volunteers, Cara Brockbank and Nancy Scanlon, is in it's second year. This class provides an opportunity for K-5 to go out and dig in the dirt, watch seeds turn into plants, flower, and then enjoy the fruits and veggies they have grown. In addition, our Eco Team has created a recycling/compost program where 65% of our waste is diverted from the landfill. All classrooms and outdoor spaces have a compost, recycle and landfill bin. In addition, we encourage the kids to follow the for R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot).
2011-2012 - Projects
Gardens- The Ecoliteracy Class have been planting many seeds and plants around the gardens. Mike Blake and his crew have been building new planter boxes on the playground hillside. We will be having another Garden cleanup party in the next month. Look at our calendar for details.
Fund Raising - The Ecoliteracy Program & Eco Team is Funded by the PTA, but we have committed to bring in part of our funding. We currently hold an evening at the Wine Mine which raising a significant amount of money. We are also researching a produce box which has a chance of bringing in a lot of money.
Recycling/Compost Program - In conjunction with Earth Day, Nancy Scanlon is going to ask each kid to bring in plastic waste that they home has produced in a weekend. We will be displaying on campus how much just our school community produces in plastic waste and discuss way of reducing our dependence on plastic.
We could also use volunteers in the lunch room to encourage kids to dispose of their lunch waste properly. Our kids are getting pretty good, but still need reminders.
Farm Boxes - We would like to bring fresh fruit and veggies to you home. This would also be a big fundraiser for our Eco Team. We have done all the research on how to get it started. We are looking for volunteers to help!
Worm Bins in the Kindergarten - In February we will be putting worm bins for composting in the Kindergarten. Every Wednesday, they will be feeding the worms at lunch time.
Harvest Moon/ Spring Feasts - In October, the Eco Team hosted a Harvest Moon Feast for the Hillcrest Community and shared a wonderful meal together.
Masterplan - Katie Binder is working on creating a master plan for the gardens. She will working with Cara and Nancy to outline/label how the garden spaces are being used, work with teachers to help incorporate plants in the patios that will tie in with their curriculum, and plan for the future. In addition, we will be creating a manual for each patio garden to assist Eco/Garden Parents in maintaining and developing these outdoor spaces. The second phase of the project will be to create a broader masterplan for other future projects at the school.
Current Volunteer Opportunities
1) Worm Parent in Ms. Rochester's Class contact Katie Binder @kpbinder@gmail.com.
2) Come to the Wine Mine and enjoy a glass of wine and share mingle with other Hillcrest families. Contact Diane Diamond at dianewayne@sbcglobal.net
3) Volunteer in your child's Ecoliteracy Class - Contact Cara at oaklandmonkey@hotmail.com
4) Help Shawn Wong start and manage the Hillcrest Produce Boxes - Contact Shawn at shawn_m_wong@yahoo.com
Do you have ideas? Here are a few other areas we would like to take on but need volunteers...
- Create a panel so that our kids can learn see how much energy our solar panel produces.
- Improve energy conservation on campus
- Reduce paper used in YP
-? What are your ideas?
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