Students in Winona WaldronB次元官网网址檚 Grade 1-2 class, all clad in rubber boots, troop single file across a blocked-off portion of Fifth Street behind Quadra elementary.
They gather in a semicircle underneath a nearby grove of Garry oak trees and listen intently to Todd Carnahan describe how the camas bulbs he told them about in class should be planted, then covered up with mulch.
Carnahan, the land care co-ordinator for the Habitat Acquisition Trust, oversees the six and seven year olds as they happily do their bit to restore this little corner of Garry oak meadow. A collection of native flowering shrubs is coming the next day to finish off the project.
B次元官网网址淲hatB次元官网网址檚 the most important thing to remember not to do with these bulbs?B次元官网网址� he asks them before they head off. Step on them, someone offers up correctly.
B次元官网网址淪o, before you leave on spring vacation, come and look for the blooms coming up,B次元官网网址� Carnahan adds, then proceeds to give the kids high fives.
Spearheaded by the parent advisory council, the school-wide project to plant 313 bulbs B次元官网网址� one for each student at Quadra B次元官网网址� along with shrubs is part of a project the Trust calls the . It began last fall with students spreading mulch and cardboard down, in preparation for the planting.
The goal is to get children outside to learn about their environment, as well as take ownership in what they help create, Carnahan says.
B次元官网网址淣ature deficit disorder is rampant these days,B次元官网网址� he says, standing beside an oak he estimates at between 200 and 300 years old.
B次元官网网址淚f we lose kids after theyB次元官网网址檙e seven or eight and donB次元官网网址檛 get them outside, they may not develop that spark of interest or a love for nature.B次元官网网址�
Tracy Byrne, Quadra PAC president, grew up in Great Britain and remembers seeing green spaces she played in gradually disappear, replaced with developments.
She helped drive a decision by the PAC to not invest in plastic and metal play equipment, as many schools have done in recent years, but to put its money into natural spaces.
B次元官网网址淭odd came on board and gave us some focus,B次元官网网址� Byrne says. B次元官网网址淔or the kids, it was really important to (tell) them that theyB次元官网网址檙e sacrificing a bit of a play space, but theyB次元官网网址檙e also becoming stewards of that space.B次元官网网址�
The Garry oak meadow restoration project was helped along with donations of cash for the bulbs from the Gudgeon family and shrubs from Habitat Acquisition Trust.
Quadra principal Marilyn Campbell says projects such as this are important because they give the students a stronger connection to the greater community.
SheB次元官网网址檚 also a big fan of getting the kids outside.
B次元官网网址淭he classroom does not stop at the four walls,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚n a community where they donB次元官网网址檛 get out as much, everything we can do to encourage and enhance that is good.B次元官网网址�
editor@vicnews.com
