Garlic Mustard Strikes Again!

Students have joined forces to help remove the invasive Garlic Mustard plant in the Outdoor Classroom. Each spring we reclaim our garden spaces for the woodland and native prairie plants we have established in our western courtyard. The goal of our work is to ensure that the space we have created remains dedicated to native plants of our region.

This non-native species is targeted by the Department of Natural Resources as a prime candidate for aggressive removal throughout many states. Originally introduced from Europe during early settlement days, it has few natural enemies here in North America. The bugs and animals that would normally limit is growth are native to Europe, so here the plant is highly successful and it readily crowds out native plants essential to the healthy habitat diversity that supports many butterfly species, birds and other Midwestern plants and animals.  Our students take great pride in making sure that they have removed not just the stem but the actual root as well!

For more information on the garlic mustard, head on over to your nearest WorldWideWeb and check it out!  You might just find this "evil do-er" growing in a patch of ground near you!

Here We GROW !

The spring 2010 Grow Green Fund Drive was generously supported by Avoca Families and Friends! Our Spring Plant-A-Thon in the Outdoor Classroom required a full week of digging, planting and watering. All of our kids from kindergarten through fifth grade participated, thanks to the student council's leadership. It was so great to see the garden take shape and witness the greening of the eastern courtyard .

Thanks to the 2009-2010 Student Council for leading this initiative.

Thanks to the Cub Scouts of Pack 7 for building the awesome cedar boxes for our raised vegetable bed !

Thanks to all of the families who helped with the funding and the many moms and dads who participated here at school with the daily planting events!

STUDENT COUNCIL DIGS DEEP !

Student Council members prepare to lead Avoca West in an Earth Day-to-Arbor Day fund drive to benefit spring planting in the Outdoor Classroom !

We are currently in the second year of the transformation in the eastern courtyard of the Outdoor Classroom.

Phase 1 accomplishments include:

• developing a cohesive plan for an outdoor classroom environment that meets our educational goals
• replacing the blacktop with topsoil and mulch,
• planting the redbud memorial tree in honor of Carol Rac's vision for the establishment of an Outdoor Classroom at Avoca West.
• installing tables for full class use.

beforeafterweb.mov

The link above will allow you to view some of

our favorite before-and-after photos

taken during the early creation and dedication phases of

our outdoor classroom!

Phase 2 accomplishments include.

• First major installation of an environmental interactive : The EarthWorks Zone appears to be a dry stream bed of sand at the surface, but in reality it is a 3 foot deep trench filled with loose sand. This provides a naturalized area for staging simulations in geology, archeology and paleontology, building land forms and practicing mapping skills.

• Students will help to plant the flowers and greenery that will fill the bed that has been created between the sandy pathway and the  school building. Student Council is leading the Earth Day fund drive to solicit support for student planting in the spring of 2010!

The EarthWorks Zone,

funded by a major grant from the Avoca West PTC,

was installed in the Summer of 2009