Too Mulch Fun with Forest Park Elementary!

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Written by SOLVE Jesuit Volunteer Northwest Member, Gina Graziano

Students came runnin’ down the path to find a beautiful, sunny afternoon at Cedar Mill Creek! Unlike our last Green Team activity, the weather was perfect- sunny but not too warm… perfect for doing some stream restoration work. Students gathered round and we reviewed the reasons for dumping buckets of mulch next to all of the native trees and shrubs we planted.

“For nutrients!” one student exclaimed, “to help hydrate them!” another added, and “to get rid of blackberry!” a student shared. All of those reasons are exactly right! Mulch helps retain moisture in the warm, summer months, suppresses weeds such as Armenian Blackberry, and gives the plant some great nutrients it needs to survive!

After that little review, we were off! People were filling buckets in an assembly line of sorts, others shuttling the buckets to plants, and some students even took the time to make plant identification signs in front of some of our plantings! Thanks, Meghan (SOLVE) for helping students identify and spell the names of our plants! Before we knew it, all of our plants were mulched, and ready for summer!

We headed back up to the classroom to have popsicles and review our work as a Green Team this year. Students shared their favorite parts of the year and gave helpful suggestions for Green Team next year. We at SOLVE really appreciate all of your help this year, hope you have a wonderful summer, and can’t wait to see you in the fall!

Thank you Audrey for all of your incredible dedication to the Green Team and thank you parent volunteers who make this stream restoration project possible. And, most of all, thank you wonderful Forest Park Elementary School Green Team for your positive energy and willingness to make a difference in your watershed!

Thank you very mulch, Forest Park Elementary School!

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It was no clear and sunny day when Forest Park hustled down the hill to greet Cedar Mill Creek. It was one of the rainiest days this springtime, in fact! But that didn’t stop our students from doing an awesome job of completing our restoration task at hand.

We had mulch in piles ready for students to place around all of the native trees and shrubs we have planted. Students filled buckets, pots, and even a wheelbarrow full of mulch to give each plant. This mulch will help keep the plants healthy in the warm, dry summer months when there is not so much rain. It will also help with weed suppression and give the plants some good nutrients.

After students mulched as many plants as they could, we were pretty darn wet and cold so we headed back in to see what other Green Team activity awaited us. Students made posters to educate fellow students, parents, teachers, and faculty about not idling your car, planting native trees and shrubs, composting, and more! Students wrote great short poems, phrases, and suggestions on their posters!

We headed home wet and muddy but we sure did get a lot of great work done. Thank you very mulch, Forest Park Elementary!

Stampede at Cedar Mill Creek!

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STAMPEDE!          STAMPEDE!

The stampede of Forest Park Elementary school’s green team could be heard from all around, even scaring some of the areas residents (a few deer that were walking across the stream scoping out the most delicious yards). Everyone was so excited to get working on planting some more native species.  They were so excited that “Where are the shovels?” was the most common question throughout the whole planting time. The students worked hard on Thursday, going through plant after plant, even after a few fell into the mud.  One student called it “his gift to Mother Earth”.

We even found an Ensatina Salamander in the mud as we were planting! We got to hold him for a short bit and then made sure to put him back in a safe spot to keep him healthy and protected!

These kids are so motivated to help the environment, and it’s really inspiring. All of their efforts really paid off and everyone was ecstatic that they had planted over 100 plants! Great job guys!

Forest Park Elementary exceeds planting expectations!

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Written by guest blogger, Chole, Green Team intern from Rachel Carson Environmental Middle School:

On Thursday afternoon, the clomping sound of boots belonging to Green Team members could be heard echoing down the hill from Forest Park Elementary School. After reaching the bottom of the trail the kids were excited to see all the shrubs and trees that were laid out waiting to be planted.

After a brief demonstration from Gina and Chloe (also known as Rachel) everyone rushed off to begin planting Red Alder, Nootka Rose and Red Osier Dogwood.

Forest Park Elementary also developed a new way of removing potting soil from the small plants. As far as the eye could see kids smashed the plants against large trees until their roots were free from all the potting soil. The kids were very fast planters and got through the 70 plants that were set out for them. In the end parents and students planted over 130 trees and shrubs! This group of elementary schoolers is only the second group of kids that age to do restoration with SOLVE, but they work just as hard as any older group. We are all very impressed with their efforts and all the kids can’t wait to get back and do it again!

Himalayan Blackberry is no match for Forest Park Elementary School Green Team!

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What is down hill from Forest Park Elementary School besides Starbucks? A river! This week Forest Park Elementary School Green Team students learned about watersheds and all the pollutants that drain into our streams and rivers. After rushing out to get shovels everyone was eager to see what met them on the trail.

This turned out to be one of the nastiest invasive species known to the green team, Himalayan Blackberry! Without any hesitation shovels were thrust into the ground, roots were pulled and vines snapped. The blackberry was no match for determined elementary schoolers. Their hard work really paid off and the area looked much nicer than it did before.

Once we returned to the classroom, the students reflected on their experience by drawing pictures, writing haikus and great stories. Everyone did an amazing job and we can’t wait to work with them again! Thanks especially to the parent volunteers who were a big help!

Written by Chloe, SOLV Intern