In which service volunteers are celebrities…

Posted on January 11, 2016 by kidsingardens

It was a good morning in November when I answered the Pathways phone and an AmeriCorps team member was on the line, asking if we would like a group of volunteers for a day of service at school.

Um, YES!

On December 18th, we welcomed eight young people from all around the county on a 10-month term of community service across the western states. They had been in Julian for six weeks, staying at Camp Stevens and working on building and clearing trails, planting natives on Volcan and helping out around town, such as assisting locals in hanging all of the holiday decorations on our historic Main Street. On our day, they worked with Pathways, helping to wrap presents for our toy drive, moving a sandbox for the special ed. department, planting bulbs, painting our table, and installing a hoop system over our raised beds.

I also asked them if they would be willing to do a 15-minute presentation to the 4th and 5th grade classes. They were happy to do this and visited each class to discuss the concept of AmeriCorps, what projects they had already contributed to, where they were headed next, and what they had learned about committing a year of their young lives to service in various communities. I also asked the team to share some of their reflections on living in Julian with our students, as it’s always great to get an outsider’s perspective on what is just “daily life” for you. They talked about the natural beauty of Julian, the close-knit community who had welcomed them wholeheartedly and of course, the apple pie.

After taking a few last questions, I hustled them out the door so the students could get ready for lunch. As I did, some fifth graders followed us with pen and paper and started asking the AmeriCorps members to sign their names. Suddenly I realized the kids were asking for their autographs! The AmeriCorps members realized this too as they signed paper after paper, laughing that this was definitely a “first” for them.

Oh to live in a world where the people who volunteer and serve in communities are the celebrities! And thank you to the amazing Mrs. McFedries who has taught her class to respect and be grateful for people who serve others. Bless you AmeriCorps team as you continue to make the world a better place!

The end-of-school wrap-up, kinda

Posted on June 15, 2013 by kidsingardens

School’s out! A moment celebrated every year by the “waving to the busses” pulling out for the last time until mid-August.

And so, things were also finishing up in the garden, kinda.

I did a bunch of make-up garden lessons (on peas! surprise!) and came to love the book “First Peas to the Table” by Susan Grigsby about Thomas Jefferson’s annual contest with his neighbors.

We did a lot of mulberry eating.

My senior ambassadors worked on a mosaic stepping stone that will stay in the garden, acknowledging their two years of service.

On the second day of summer, we held our (belated) annual tea party for Administrative Professionals day. I tried to organize it on the actual holiday in May, or thereabouts, but discovered that stealing away all seven of our administrative staff at the same time might inadventently make the school crumble in on itself. These wonderful people make it happen every day, and I love that we’re on our fourth year of celebrating them in the garden.

The new PLUS team (junior high leadership) also came out for a 2-hour service project during the first week of summer, helping to spread woodchips, deadhead herbs and flowers, tear out peas, put in tomatoes and squash, mulch, tidy up the breast cancer awareness ribbon garden, and water.

This is what the ribbon looks like when the daffodil and tulips are out of season. It needs a lot of tidying to keep the shape and outline, made with red bark and white stones.

Ta-dah! What were peas are now tomatoes, the Harvest of the Month for August and September.

And finally, I set up the summer watering schedule for our volunteer families, made exactly 100% easier this year by the fact that my friend and fellow Master Gardener put in timed irrigation to ALL of our edibles. Now we just have to water the ornamentals a couple times a week with rainwater. Thank you dear Mary!

Family Fun (work)Day

Posted on September 26, 2012 by kidsingardens

Once a quarter Mr. Pierce plans a weekend “Family Fun Day.” This past weekend the event was held in the garden, for a workday and BBQ. Simply amazing what many hands can accomplish!

Rangers at Heise Park dumped off a load of woodchips (seen in the background) which were loaded into wheelbarrows…

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

…and spread around the entire garden by kids and adults all afternoon.

Photo courtesy of Marisa McFedries

We removed an old raised bed, with rotting wood and gopher-punctured lining:

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

We built a brand-new, gopher-lined box: (Redwood and 1/2 inch hardware cloth)

Photo courtesy of Marisa McFedries

Moving it into place took a small team:

Photo courtesy of Marisa McFedries

Putting the dirt back in, plus buckets of compost we harvested earlier:

Photo courtesy of Marisa McFedries

Finished with peas planted and mulched (the prickly pinecones are supposed to deter creatures):

Turning bins and sifting finished compost:

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

Whole lot of weeding goin’ on:

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

Marisa leading a heroic effort with the kids to remove rocks from a future planting area:

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

A new family to Julian joined us for the day, and we all got to know each other a little bit more:

Photo courtesy of Scot Copeland

Finishing up with a BBQ:

Photo courtesy of Marisa McFedries

And very last: spontaneous music at the end of the day, just as we were losing light!

Garden ambassadors, tour guides, rock stars

Posted on April 22, 2012 by kidsingardens

Another responsibility of our fifth and sixth grade Garden Ambassadors is to give tours. I work with them on the how’s (shaking hands, making eye contact, friendly smiles) and the what’s (correct and succinct information, good stories, personal anecdotes) of being a good tour guide. Throughout the year, when we have a guest on campus interested in seeing the garden, one of the ambassadors will be tapped to give the tour. Last week an ambassador gave a tour to a pediatrician on campus for the day; another one recently spent her recess giving a tour to a group of parents visiting from a San Diego school.

Today all ten of them were “on.” Our school celebrated Global Youth Service Day by holding a short open house to showcase to the wider community our service learning projects. Garden Ambassadors also gave garden tours. The last two weeks we have had three “working lunches” to prepare. The students spread out at “stations,” introducing themselves and talking about their section of the garden to each visitor that approached.

They were smart, poised and welcoming, and I was incredibly impressed, once again, by the level of leadership to which kids can rise when given the chance. (The seriousness with which they take their job is charming too!) I was very proud of them, and I was also reminded of how much joy I derive from working with kids in gardens.