The Greening of Chipman School

23 May -- Another Great Turnout for Planting!

2010-05-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Academy of Alameda (formerly Chipman) volunteers report a successful planting day has taken place. As we see from the photos, gardeners of all ages participated, led by the professional guidance of Shirley Watts.

Shirley taught the volunteers how to transfer the plants:

The improvements are immediately noticeable.

Laying a weed barrier means an easier job for future maintenance.

The Committee wants everybody to know we will be having another work party this weekend on Saturday, May 29, from around 9-12pm to finish the planting and spread mulch. We will really need wheelbarrows and shovels.

Planting Day is Saturday! Everybody Come!!

2010-05-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

We just got confirmation that IT'S TIME TO PLANT !!!!

Our plants are arriving this Friday at Chipman and we will be planting on Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 9-12pm.

No worries about abilities - we'll have professional help to guide the way. Any and all time is greatly appreciated and kids will continue to get community service credit.
For more information go to either the Chipman or Academy's website for updates at:

http://cms.alamedausd.ca.schoolloop.com/

http://theacademyofalameda.org/

Sincerely,
Liz Warmerdam, Jill Saxty, and Kris Nelson

A Great Work Day at Chipman!

2010-04-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the work party last Saturday. Congratulations to everybody who participated. What a grand beginning for Chipman's new identity.

Please, everybody who reads this, send a short comment so that we know you are out there. We want to know whether to continue this blog.

Earth Day at Chipman

2010-04-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a great opportunity for volunteers to re-connect with Chipman School, now re-named as The Academy of Alameda.

17 November -- Chipman garden is thriving

2009-11-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

Liz Warmerdam writes:

I am a new Chipman parent coming from Paden Elementary where I worked on the garden there. Together with Jill Saxty (another former Paden parent and new CHipman mom) we have been working at Chipman every Monday morning from abuot 9-11am on the edible garden and the courtyards. Come by and see the fruits of your labor.

We've been working with Kate McHenry (6th grade math and science teacher)and a few weeks ago bought the plants at Thompson's that Marla suggested (Marla also helped us install the irrigation for the beds and has given us alot of the information that was developed last spring and summer - she's been super helpful). Anyway, Kate took her science kids out to the garden last week and planted about 50 winter herbs and veggies. Jill also talked to the art teacher to see if his class would be interested in doing a mural on the wall behaind the planters and he said he would get that ball rolling.

One area that still really needs your help and support is the front. I think there was some expectation from the school community that the barren areas out front might get planted, that is beyond what two moms can take on. Marla mentioned that a design and cost estimate was done for that area. Any help there would be awesome.

That's about it - Jill and I would love to get connected with you folks and thank you for all your work so far.

NOW,THE BIG QUESTION: Who will lead the project to complete our work and develop the front garden?

Garden Status update from Cynthia and Slow Food Alameda

2009-09-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Cindy Boyd writes:

I just wanted to give you an update on the state of the garden at Chipman.
Here are some pictures from last weekend. [Note, you can find the photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/elsaknits/ChipmanGarden#
In attendance last Friday were myself, Dan (my significant other), Mark
Hardwick, Rick Kellner, one Chipman mom and son (who I happened to meet in
passing last Thursday night before the Friday work event). Hopefully the
awareness of the project through the school year will create more excitement
and better turn outs for any other work days. Hopefully, most of the work
is done for us outside volunteers. For now, the job is to make sure this
project becomes part of the school curriculum. Involving the teachers and
parents is key to the garden's survival.

As you will see in the pictures, we were able to meet the new school
principal. She happened to be there preparing for the new school year.
I was able to fill her in on the history and progress of the garden thus far.

I also spoke to her about my concerns for the implementation of
the garden in the school system. At this point I haven't been contacted by
anyone about coming to a school meeting, although I have requested that
Marla Lee and I be invited to a meeting so we can give our feedback,
concerns and advice on the future of the garden. I realize it is early on
in the school year, but this is crucial for the survival and sustainability
of the garden. Can someone help me and hook me up with the right people?

Thank you all so much for your continued support. We must all be in this
together.

In Health,

Cindy Boyd, Edible Garden Committee Chair-Slow Food Alameda
www.slowfoodalameda.org

PS....If you haven't already signed up to be a member, please visit the Slow
Food Alameda website and do so now! Also, please attend the National Eat-In
Potluck this Monday (Labor Day) at Franklin Park. (visit slow food alameda
site for more information!) This is the beginning of a better future for
our future generations! Barbara, Can you get this information out to the PTA
list? I know you are busy, but it would be great to have an astounding
turnout! Happy Labor Day Everyone~

12 June -- How our garden grows

2009-06-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Now that the planting boxes for the edible garden are complete, it's time to prepare the planting. We hope to get this job done during the summer. We plan also to lay drip irrigation. If all goes well, Chipman Middle School students will return (or enter) the school in the Fall, to be surprised by the beginnings of their edible garden, with vegetables, fruits and herbs galore.

Our floral garden will be started this Fall as well. We decided that it will be simpler to prepare and plant this garden, which will hold a variety of beautiful plants and flowers, during the school year, when we will have plenty of helpers as well as students and teachers to make sure all goes well.

We are convinced that the two gardens will provide opportunities for students to volunteer and earn community service hours, for teachers to supplement their science classes, and for the school community to work together in a project which will beautify their school.

We're looking for additional volunteers when we next hold work days. We'll be announcing them as we get closer to organizing them.

In addition, we invite donations to cover the costs of the gardens. We thank the Chipman Middle School and Slow Food Alameda for their contributions, in money and in labor, for their work on our first Planting Day. To help us with money raising, please send your check to Chipman Middle School PTA, 401 Pacific Ave., Alameda, California 94501, and mark it Garden Fund. Be sure to include contact information so that we can send a Thank You and a receipt.

Perhaps our most challenging opportunity for volunteers right now is help with publicity, public relations and longterm planning. Even though our activities seem big to us, most people don't know about the Greening of Chipman, and we would like to change that. To join this effort, leave a comment on this blog, or email us at greenchipman@gmail.com

31 May -- WE DID IT!

2009-05-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our edible garden at Chipman Middle School is well on its way. An energetic and hard-working crew, led by Marla Lee and a crew from Slow Food Alameda, assembled the boxes which become Chipman's edible garden.
We had a good turnout: a half-dozen committee members were joined by several
students. Two School Board members dropped by to learn more about our project. Several parents also came to help and have promised to spread the word among the school community.

Master Gardener Marla Lee posted her design for the garden. Leland Noll had prepared the plumbing for future drip irrigation, allowing the beds to be placed in the best position. The morning was spent hammering and drilling, fastening braces to each corner.

Two five-year-olds and their big sister spent the entire day with us, each helping in special ways. The family illustrates the diversity of Chipman -- they are from Afghanistan, and their language, Farsi, is one of the 18 languages represented at the school.

As we worked we could hear music from the adjacent band room, as the drum corps prepared for a concert.

We feel proud and satisfied that our committee has achieved a major goal: Chipman Middle School will have a garden which adds beauty to the school campus, softening the cement and concrete; the garden will teach lessons in nutrition, science, discipline and patience; we have learned that we can come from many different places to work together.

Special thanks to Slow Food Alameda for the lunch, to Cynthia Boyd for taking on the long-term coordination with the school, to Marla Lee for her leadership.

NOTE: See the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=greening%20of%20chipman&psc=G&filter=1#

Planting Day is Saturday, May 30!

2009-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to very hard work by dedicated and smart people, the final plan calls for ONE DAY ONLY -- Saturday, May 30 from 10 am till 4 pm. We're planning two teams, one for the edible garden, one for the front yard.

We need: VOLUNTEERS -- (Adults and children) also tools (staple guns, 1 table saw, handheld drills and bits, screwdrivers, shovels.

We have: lots of good ideas, food and water for workers.

Please leave a comment, or email us at bobandelsa@gmail.com to volunteer. Let us know what you will bring and when you plan to arrive and how long you can work.

With enough hands, we can get everything done in one day.

17 May -- Planting Days are almost here!

2009-05-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

UPDATE as of May 27: Plan on a BIG Workday, Saturday only. There may be follow-up projects in the weeks to come. EP

We will have our first construction and planting days at Chipman School on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and May 31.

We plan to build raised planting beds for the edible garden and prepare the soil for the front floral garden. In addition we will lay drip lines and install the plants for the floral garden on the same weekend.

We are looking for workers with tools on those days -- bring your shovels and screwdrivers, wheelbarrows and wagons, work gloves and strong backs, and lots of enthusiasm.

Pick your day and time (morning or afternoon) and let us know with a comment to this blog or an email.

05 May -- Proposed work schedule

2009-05-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

It's time to begin preparing the gardens!

Planning meeting: Sunday May 17, 2 pm at Chipman School

Work Days Saturday, May 30 and May 31.

Front Garden: We will be preparing for planting: removing the sod, enriching the soil, and laying drip lines.

Edible Garden: We will be building the raised beds and laying drip lines.

27 April -- We're Ready to go!

2009-04-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

We have some important work to do during the next weeks. Please comment on the proposed schedule: what have we forgotten? It's time to volunteer for jobs before and during our work days. Here is the proposed schedule:

Week of 27 April

Discuss irrigation plan for front yard. Include planters.
Determine who will supply what
Schedule installation of irrigation
Publicize schedule, sign up workers
Get sponsors for lunches
Get trucks and drivers to haul away turf
Contact Chipman School -- students doing community service?
Notify Paden parents, PTA, teachers of plans

Friday 1 May 2009
Determine final budgets, get gardeners, workers, PTA, committee signoff
Pruning Club discuss pruning trees at their 11 May meeting

Week of 11 May
Purchase building materials for vegetable garden, supplies for front garden

Saturday 16 May 2009 0800 - 1700
Remove turf from area of front yard to be planted. Install drip irrigation system.
Add soil amendment
Construct above-ground beds for vegetable garden in rear. Install irrigation system.
Need:
Workers: 12 all day or 24 half-day
Shovel, wheelbarrow - front
Construction - rear
Sources of volunteers: Our Committee, PTA, Boy Scouts, Alternatives in Action
Pickup trucks to haul away turf figure 3-4 truckloads
Coffee Break AM (find Sponsor)
Catered Cash lunch (find restaurant to back)
Soda Break PM (ditto)

Week of 26 May
Purchase plants and soil and paint for front beautification

Saturday 30 May 2009 0800 - 1700
Plant decorative shrubs in front yard. Repaint school sign.
Other cosmetic improvements as planned.
Need:
Workers: 6 all day or 12 half-day
Sources of volunteers: Our Committee, PTA, BSA, AIA
Tool List - TBD
Coffee Break AM (find Sponsor)
Catered Cash lunch (find restaurant to back)
Soda Break PM (ditto)

Sunday meeting -- Everybody come!

2009-04-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Please join us at Chipman School Sunday afternoon, April 26, at 2 for a critically important meeting.

23 April -- Almost shovel-ready!

2009-04-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday afternoon we met with Judson Kempson, Chipman Middle School's principal, and Leland Noll, Director of Maintenance and Facilities. Both of them are happy to support our project and have encouraged us to move ahead with a detailed proposal and schedule.

Here are some of the items we must attack as quickly as possible:
irrigation plan for front garden
irrigation plan for edible garden
itemized budget for each garden, including construction, plants, supplies, tools
time line -- schedule purchases, taking out the lawn, planting, etc.

We are fortunate to have our two gardeners, Shirley Watts for the front garden and Marla Lee for the edible garden, with other skilled and experienced folks to back them up. We need Point People to make sure the items listed above are completed in good order, and coordinated with each other. There are certainly additional topics which are not covered above.

To discuss these items, create teams, and get ready to take the next step, we need a full committee meeting.
We are hoping to be able to use the Chipman School classroom where we usually meet. Please watch your email and this blog for details of time and place.

NO meeting Sunday

2009-04-18T18:14:00.001-07:00

There will be NO meeting Sunday afternoon at Chipman School. Our immediate jobs are to acquire the necessary permissions to continue. We'll let everybody know when this is done and we can proceed. While you are waiting, strengthen your gardening muscles and locate trowels and wheelbarrows!

10 April -- Washington School Garden

2009-04-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Lena Tam tells us:

The West Alameda Business Association is proud to be a good community partner and have actively sought out to build relationships with the schools in West Alameda. As such, I would like to extend an invitation to attend the event described below. I hope to see you there.

Kathy

After months of hard work from dedicated volunteers, the students, faculty and PTA at Washington Elementary would like to invite you to the ribbon cutting ceremony of their new garden. This will be the highlight activity of our week long Earth Week celebration.

The Washington School Garden will be an asset to the community, providing a model for habitat restoration and small-scale organic gardening, as well as a space for a variety of activities in support of the school curricula. It will also become a focal point of community involvement with school activities, emphasizing our ethnically diverse culture and sustainable, environmentally sound practices.

We are excited to share this ceremony with all members of our community and our civic leaders. Won't you please join us?

Date: April 24
Time: 10:30 am
Where: Washington Elementary School - at the corner of Taylor and 8th.

You can view our progress here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/westjam0/WashingtonElementaryGarden#

Please RSVP to:

Lorrie Murray
Chairperson
Go Green Washington Committee
lorrie@astropitch.com

Kathy Moehring
Executive Director
West Alameda Business Association
1509 1/2 Webster Street
Alameda, CA 94501
Office (510) 523-5955
E-mail West_Alameda@yahoo.com

10 April -- The White House Garden grows

2009-04-10T11:02:00.001-07:00

06 April -- Audrey's Research on Pruning

2009-04-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Audrey Lord-Hausman reports:

Hello All: sorry to have missed the meeting but was out of town. A tree
pruner who has done a good bit of work for us belongs to a group of
professionals who do volunteer work throughout the year. I asked him to
look at the trees in front of Chipman and whether or not he thought his
group might want to help us out.

He went by the school and said that:

1. If they were to do it, they could certainly do a good job of thinning
which would lighten the look and let more light in. Their equipment
(ladders) would not allow them to top the trees, however.
2. We would have to arrange for the cuttings to be taken away (it would be
a lot so the logistics would have to be well planned out)
3. Would there be problems with AUSD and the union if they were to do this?
4. Would we need AUSD's approval & how would we go about that?
5. The group has a planning meeting on May 11 to set up their schedule for
the next six months. If we can assure him of #s 2 and 4, he will take the
project to the May 11 meeting.
6. The pruning would most likely be scheduled during the summer.

Thoughts?

Audrey

06 Apr -- Shirley on Beautifying the front

2009-04-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Shirley Watts says:

If the group is interested we can get this going ASAP, as soon as we
get MOF approval. I will email Kirsten Vital to keep her on our side
and we shouldn't have any
problems.

Once we take care of that, we can get out our shovels. I think the
best thing to do would be schedule a Saturday for lawn removal and try
to get that out in one go and turn and amend the soil. Someone should
try to make a few phone calls to ACI and see if we can get them to
help us 1) get rid of the grass we dig out, can they take it away or
help with dump fees? 2) donate soil amendment. We should also think
about laying weed fabric. The following Saturday we can plant. I will
get plants delivered during that week and we will have them ready to
go. We will also need mulch. I will ask MOF where they got the mulch
they used at Haight I thought it was pretty good stuff.

The costs of this project depend on what we can get help with. If we
have to take the soil to the dump or get a dumpster that could be
hundreds, let's say $300 or so and we will need a couple of people
with trucks to take it away. The amendment should be around $200, the
plants around $1200, if we include the whole front bed, and mulch $400
or so. Maybe another $150 for weed fabric and stakes. I will donate
the materials for the gold leaf thing. A quick total looks like around
$2250 from start to finish. That's if we have to pay for everything
ourselves and we may not.

We could get this done within the next month.

06 April -- Marla's edible garden plan

2009-04-06T10:25:00.001-07:00

This is Marla's drawing for the edible garden. See the previous post for the plants and supplies she recommends

06 April -- Updates and proposals

2009-04-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Our committee members have been busy since our meeting on March 22!

We have received kudos for the new plants in the front (who from the school is watering them?) and the pruning in the center courtyard.

We learned that one of the science teachers is responsible for much of the planting in the first courtyard.

We have proposals for the beautification project and for the edible garden project to study and then approve (See below).

Beautification Project:
showy planting in front - tough shrubs, golden variegated theme (school colors black and gold). Things like Eleagnus 'Gilt Edge', Yucca 'Golden Sword' and Corokia cotoneaster which is more or less black with yellow flowers.
Sample gold leaf paint provided
$1000 plants (wholesale) and $200 for mulch
approx 40 @ 5 gallon, approx 45 @ 1 gallon
Detailed plant list under development
Perhaps $2250 start to finish for front beautification, including repainting sign.

Edible Garden Project:
On the east side
Request made for City to help the District remove the asphalt
Initial concern about toxicity of asphalt alleviated
$200 for irrigation equipment / drip lines
$150-$250 for organic compost / planting mix
need trucks and volunteers
E-shaped planter (21' x 8' overall)
Long edge vertical (Tomatos, Peas, Beans, Sunflowers, Corn, Squash)
Top arm Greens (Broccoli, Nasturtiums,...)
Middle arm Greens (Lettuce, Spinach, Kale, Chard)
Lower arm Herbs (Pestos, Garlic, Onion
Two smaller center wine barrel planters
Lavender/Calendula
Rosemary/Oregano
Planter materials:
Redwood boards: 2@10', 2@12', 12@8'
24 Corner Units, 4 straight units w/ screws
2 half wine barrels
Plant / Seed List
Artichoke, Cabbage, Lettuces, Kale, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens,
Spinach, Fava Beans, Sweet Peas, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Kohlrabi,Garlic,
Beets, Onions, Carrots, Beans, Peas, Peppers, Tomatos, Snow Peas,
Cucumber, Pumpkin, Squash, Basil, Eggplant, Potatoes, Oregano, Thyme,
Rosemary, Savory, Sorrel, Calendula, Mint, Lavender, Stevia, ...
(See Marla's drawing, posted separately)

What with all the absences for school Spring Break, Sunday's meeting did not have a quorum, which raises an interesting question: we could try to operate with fewer formal meetings of the entire group. There are plenty of self-starters on our mailing list.

If we do that, then it would be very nice if everyone would copy everyone else on their e-mails, so we'd all be up-to-date (or we could all post to the blog, if you prefer).

There are some apparent gaps in our work: (1) fundraising; and (2) liaison with Chipman faculty for teaching the edible garden.

05 April -- Our Next Committee meeting

2009-04-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Please mark your calendars and join us at Chipman Middle School on Sunday, April 5, at 2 pm when we continue our plans and projects for gardens and beautification.

22 Mar Minutes of our meeting

2009-03-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Ten members, one guest, two colorful shrubs, four pink flower plants, three bags of soil and two packets of fertilizer attended the fifth general meeting on Sunday, 22 March, at Chipman School, led by Stephen Young. One newcomer joined us: Shirley Alexandra Watts, a professional garden designer and planner, whose most recent school project is the beautiful gardens in front of Haight School on Santa Clara. City Councilwoman Lena Tam returned to join us and continue her support for our work.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, 5 April at 2:00 p.m. at Chipman School. We'll try to send everyone an e-mail reminder of the meeting.

The planning committee for the $2500 PTA beautification project - consisting of Marla Lee, Stephen Young, Audrey Lord-Hausman, Mark Briggs, and Lucky, have been hard at work, and presented their proposals for the beautification project. This committee still needs to prepare the written plan and post it on the website.

Marla presented the committee's work orally, including a strong pitch to introduce gardening in which the students can become involved as early as possible. She spent part of a day on the Chipman campus and suggested the outside area close to the outdoor storage room and the drum corps locker room as an excellent place for a school garden, with a nearby source of water. She emphasized that being close to the school would afford greater protection and oversight, as well as being more convenient for teachers and students to conduct educational activities at the garden area. Lester, who works with the drum corps, encouraged this solution. If we do break up some of the asphalt to produce a backyard garden, we hope that we can work with the City to haul away the asphalt.

Marla reported that the front quadrangle, with a wide variety of trees in planters, was generally used as an informal area by Chipman faculty and staff; students used the rear quadrangle for their gatherings. The front quadrangle suffers from having no two of the dozen or more trees alike, nor even representing a particular forest environment - everything from pines to yuccas are present. In addition, several small shrubs in pots have been added and do not match the larger mosaic planting tubs. Finally, the quadrangles have fallen into de facto use as storage areas for miscellaneous school-related activities and equipment which does not blend in with the plantings. A beautification effort should address these problems, and try to find storage locations away from the quadrangle interiors. Portions of the concrete floors of the quadrangles are stained from water draining through the planters and should be repainted.

It was agreed that the junipers in front of the school were too deeply rooted to remove, and moreover, that they were excellent trees worth saving. The experts present felt that good pruning would make these trees more beautiful and less dominant on the front facade. However, we need to line up some heavy equipment (such as a cherry picker or other portable hoist) to enable pruners to reach the upper branches of the junipers.

We want to involve Chipman students in the planning phase. It would be excellent to have one or more students attend the next committee meeting. Several members stressed that if the greening projects were to prove successful, the Chipman students and faculty would have to be enthusiastic supporters. Barbara Mooney noted that there is an underutilized "home ec" classroom at Chipman which could be used for after school cooking of school-grown vegetables.

We hope to have Coast Guard support of this project, since a lot of children of Coast Guard families attend Chipman. Perhaps some local Coast Guard group could "adopt" Chipman.

Marla suggested that we could add planters in the center of the rear courtyard, on the four closest triangular benches, leading up to a high planting in the center. Pole beans would be a good choice of a high vegetable planting.

Mark Briggs noted that after the large edible garden was installed at Tennyson High School in Hayward, there has been little or no vandalism -- the only incident reported was that someone planted something over spring break!

In the front of the School the committee proposed removing much of the lawn in favor of a new planting, lower maintenance and lower water usage -- featuring either California natives or drought tolerant plants and succulents. Furthermore, a combination of planting and brightly colored rock could help give some curb appeal -- we want students pulling up in front of the school proud that this is their school!

After the formal meeting adjourned, the shrubs, flowers, soil, fertilizer, and water were installed in the large planters at the front of the school, a symbolic start to our efforts.

With our plans firming up, the need for financing continues to grow. We will only be able to accomplish a limited amount with the $2500 PTA grant, and we will need more funds to move forward. Obtaining these funds will require two efforts: fundraising drives among the Chipman and surrounding Alameda community of parents, teachers, students, and friends; and writing proposals to obtain grants from a variety of foundations and organizations which support environmental and educational projects.

Our desired agenda for the 5 April meeting is as follows:
1. Discussion and tentative approval of a written plan for the $2500 project.
2. Agreement on the precise day for the May build (May 9 or May 16).
3. Report of the fundraising subcommittee including both grant proposals and the summer fundraiser.
4. Involvement and support of Chipman students and faculty in the educational parts of our proposals - green education and natural food.

Because we all need to be reminded of why we do things, the secretaries have repeated our mission statement, as developed at our second meeting:

1. Requested by President Obama as part of his efforts to involve Americans in public service, and initiated on 19 January 2009.
2. Linked to the President's green goals of energy efficiency and making the U.S. a leader on climate change.
3. Linked to the President's goals of making science education a national priority, especially through environmental science education.
4. Enhance the performance and pride of Chipman School, its students, faculty, parents, administration and neighbors.
5. Improving the greenspace and greenery available to Chipman School, thereby making it a more beautiful and attractive environment.

20 March -- It must be a trend!

2009-03-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

If the First Lady is planting a garden on the White House grounds, we are in very good company! We found this on the Internet today.

Sunday will be our first Planting Day!

2009-03-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Barbara Kahn says:

Audrey and I met with Marla and have some preliminary plans for the interior of the school. The idea is to have some hands-on work, to plant something colorful in the pots in front of the school, so it would be good if the people who want to dig, wore gardening clothing and brought spades or other tools with them. Hopefully Lucky or someone will bring a camera to document our achievement---a small but real beginning. We will have potting soil and something to plant in the two pots in front of the school so that when the kids arrive on Monday they will see a change.

Audrey says:
Part of what we want to do on Sunday is move and re-pot the two front planters. Barbara Kahn and Audrey are working on getting the soil and some plants. We will probably need a heavy duty dolly to move the planters once we’ve removed the old dirt, along with at least two shovels, something to remove the old dirt, and clippers, trowels, etc. If anyone attending on Sunday would like to bring any of these items to help us accomplish this, it would be appreciated.

Stephen says:
Here is a suggested sign-up sheet: http://doodle.com/dmacqztrbeer22p4

28 Mar Another garden

2009-03-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Barbara Kahn writes:

Haight school is on Santa Clara east of Chestnut. They have planted a garden that it would be good for people to drive by and take a look. The woman who helped them may also be available to meet with us.

Help Make Our Meetings More Organized: Submit Agenda Items Ahead of Time

2009-03-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

Stephen Young writes:

Email or call Stephen Young by 12:30pm on the Thursday prior to the meeting to be added to the agenda

I've already gotten some requests to add items on this Sundays agenda. If you think you need some time to present on something you've been working on or if there's a topic of discussion that you think is important for the group to address at the upcoming meeting you can email or call me by Thursday afternoon (see roster for my contact info.) and I will make sure it gets on the agenda.

This will be the process for getting on the agenda from now on. If you get the information to me by the Thursday afternoon leading up to the meeting I will follow up with you and/or put your item on the agenda. This does not mean that you won't be able to bring up new topics at the meetings without being on the agenda. Meetings will continue to be flexible and allow for topics to be addressed as they arise. This change is meant to allow for more access, accountability and organization in our meetings. My hope is to provide a structure and space for every topic to be given the time and consideration it merits.

It is also my hope that I will soon be able to start sending out agendas to the group by the Thursday night or Friday morning prior to the meetings in hopes that it will help us all be more prepared and maximize our time spent in committee.

12 Mar -- Lucky's Ideas and sketches

2009-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

Lucky writes:

As you know that I was laid off and was looking for work. Just recently, I have accepted a contract consultant job as an Engineering Manager and it involves a lot of traveling. I am scheduled to leave California tomorrow for about 3 weeks. I know I am supposed to be back during the first week of April, however, I may also be back before then or later.

I will read the blogs to keep myself updated while I am gone. I am not here for the next meeting, but I hope I will attend the future meetings.

I have attached the measurements of the 3 proposed working areas that Mark and I recorded after our last meeting on 3/8/09. I was supposed to create an AutoCad drawing of the spaces; Unfortunately, my AutoCad program isn't working and I was not able to make a scaled drawing. Mark might be able to help with the drawings.

Also, here is a very initial idea sketch I worked on earlier. It is just a thought and I would like to share it with you guys. Please note that it is simply an idea sketch. Maybe it will help to get started with ideas and planning. Note: you can see Lucky's drawings here: http://picasaweb.google.com/elsaknits/12MarLuckyDrawings?feat=directlink Right-click on any image to save it to your computer.

Environmental Grant Writing Workshop

2009-03-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

Stephen Young writes:

The Grant Writing for Teachers Workshop is scheduled for this Saturday, March 14th from 9-4pm.

You will need to RSVP to laura_lienk@csumb.edu no later than this Wednesday, March 11th if you want to attend. Include your name, address, city, state, zip, phone, school/organization, grade/subject (if applicable).

It is an intensive day long workshop, participants will learn the basics of simple grant writing including:

*Searching for likely funders on the web and other sources

*Writing an inquiry letter

*Making a project budget

*Writing a simple project

*Gathering partners and support

During the course of the workshop, participants will be given time to write a short proposal.

The workshop is free but you are responsible for your own lunch.

If you are interested in attending and would like to carpool, I will be driving down at 7am on Saturday morning. Give me a call or email me, you can get my contact information from the roster Elsa and Bob so kindly sent out today.

08 Mar -- Minutes

2009-03-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Twelve members attended the fourth general meeting on Sunday, 8 March, at Chipman School, led by Stephen Young. Two newcomers joined us: Mark Hardwick, the Chairman of the Board of Slow Food Alameda, and Marla Lee, a master gardener who has built butterfly habitats at Bay Farm School and Lum School.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, 22 March at 2:00 p.m. at Chipman School. We'll try to send everyone an e-mail reminder of the meeting.

Stephen announced that the Chipman PTA has received a $2500 grant which they in turn, have promised to our Chipman School Greening Committee for the first phase of our project - improving the gardens in the two quads and the front of the school.

May 9 or May 16 will be the date we bring volunteers to Chipman to work on this first phase -- the date remains uncertain (please notify the secretaries as soon as this date is firm!).

Part of the work will be finding new places to store some of the materials that have been placed around the interior quads, so the focus can be on the greenery.

The subcommittee to work on plans for this first phase consists of Marla Lee, Stephen Young, Audrey Lord-Hausman, Mark Briggs, Lucky (and possibly others). This committee will work up a preliminary plan to be posted on the web site by the 16th of March.

Mark Briggs brought two excellent pieces of research to which we provide the following links: www.spur.org/documents/unpavingschools.pdf is an article by Rosey A. Jencks about greening efforts for San Francisco schools; and http://www.museumca.org/global/education/exh_growing_up_city.html published by the Oakland Museum on a celebration of urban community gardening in the East Bay. Please follow these links, especially if you want some great inspiration!

The subcommittee to coordinate the activities for Build Day will include Justin Harrison and Stephen Young. This subcommittee's task will include purchasing supplies, borrowing tools, recruiting volunteers, and generally planning the activities for that day. One issue will be having the right tools to move the large concrete planters. The task may include painting. Plowshares nursery and farm has tools to borrow, and an interest in supporting school gardening projects. With its large and enthusiastic local membership, Slow Food Alameda will no doubt provide additional volunteers for Build Day. Another source of volunteers for Build Day will be Chipman School students themselves, looking for jobs that provide community service hours needed for graduation.

Our fundraising committee consists of Barbara Kahn, Barbara Mooney, Mark Hardwick, Justin Harrison, and Sylvia Kahn. We have not set a definite date for this project, but anticipate during the Summer, after the first phase greening effort is complete, and with the strong backing of Slow Food Alameda. They have just finished planning for a membership drive and Fabulous Food & Wine Pairing to be held Friday, March 13th at Alameda's Rosenblum Cellars. For further information go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/57865

Given the tough economy, we are hoping to find existing "green grants" to tap into for further funding of our plans. Marla Lee, Elsa Pendleton, Mark Hardwick and Stephen Young will work on pursuing additional grants; Stephen is attending a free grant-writing workshop in Monterey next weekend. The Watershed Project can offer up to $2000 in grant money. For a school greening grant proposal to succeed, it must have features relating to sustainability and educational purpose, such as a garden shed and tools.

Councilman Frank Matarrese reported that the closed school adjacent to Woodstock Park has been identified as the site of a new Boys and Girls Club facility in Alameda. Since Woodstock Park was designed to be adjacent to both schools, and is also close to the Alternatives in Action campus, it is logical to work up a formal agreement between the Alameda Unified School District, the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, and the Boys and Girls Club to share the use of Woodstock Park. The city has $350,000 set aside for improving the turf and irrigation for the playing field at Woodstock Park, and it would make sense for this agreement to be in place coincidentally with the already-funded Park improvements. Furthermore, despite the financial crisis, the School District also has funds available for buildings and grounds projects. Ron Mooney, Frank Matarrese, and Barbara Kahn will work on a subcommittee to produce this formal written agreement for shared use. There are other schools in Alameda that are close to city parks such as Lum School and Rittler Park, Otis School and Krusi Park, and Ruby Bridges School, where a formal agreement has been written. Chipman School could be an excellent opportunity to develop a three-way agreement which could be a pilot for other instances of agency cooperation.

We discussed the fact that it is relatively easy to get volunteers to participate in installing a new school greening project, but the real proof is in the sustainability of the greenspace after the project has been started. There is no substitute for strong support from the Parent Teacher Association to volunteer and keep the greenspace thriving. Marla and Stephen will work on a subcommittee to inaugurate a sustainable initiative for Chipman School. What we will need to develop is an inspired and committed team of Chipman parents.

We also discussed the need for the Chipman faculty to support our effort, and indicated that we must firm up our plans before the teachers will get firmly behind us.

It was a most productive and worthwhile meeting. As the secretaries and webkeepers were departing, the garden designers had produced measuring devices and were sketching out the courtyard for green planning!

Because we all need to be reminded of why we do things, the secretaries have repeated our mission statement, as developed at our second meeting:

1. Requested by President Obama as part of his efforts to involve Americans in public service, and initiated on 19 January 2009.
2. Linked to the President's green goals of energy efficiency and making the U.S. a leader on climate change.
3. Linked to the President's goals of making science education a national priority, especially through environmental science education.
4. Enhance the performance and pride of Chipman School, its students, faculty, parents, administration and neighbors.
5. Improving the greenspace and greenery available to Chipman School, thereby making it a more beautiful and attractive environment.

MEETING REMINDER

2009-03-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

Please plan to attend our next committee meeting, this Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m. at Chipman School.

04 Mar We are getting Famous!

2009-03-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a nice piece of publicity from an interesting Blog: (http://laurendo.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/coming-to-fruition/):

Happy tail end of a long weekend to those who are getting today off.

Two new blogs to talk about who are doing some “green” good works on our fair isle. The first was a group who heeded the call of President Obama and started a new program to help “green” Chipman Middle School by creating and improving on the green space at Chipman Middle School. The group has created a blog to memorialize its efforts as well as disseminate information to the general public who may want to lend a hand. They have a good number of volunteers ready to jump in and do the work and could always use more hands. If you want to read up on what they have done, check it out!

03 March Non-edible trees

2009-03-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

A list of available non-edible trees:
Deodora Cedar
Redwood Linden
Norfolk Island Pine
Lincoln Linden
White Alder
Sycamore
Green Ash Maple
European Birch
European Horsechestnuts
Japanese Viburnum
Coast Live Oak
Coast Redwood

Does anybody know whether any of these would be suitable for the planters at Chipman?

22 Feb Meeting minutes

2009-02-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

We had our third general meeting today, 22 February, at Chipman School, led by Stephen Young. School Board member Ron Mooney joined us.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, 8 March at 2:00 p.m. at Chipman School. We'll try to send everyone an e-mail reminder of the meeting.

We have revised our schedule, and are now shooting for May 9 or May 16 as BUILD DAY, working on short-term gardening improvements to the courtyards and front yard at Chipman using a PTA grant of approximately $2500 to purchase plants and materials, and volunteer labor and students to help do the work. We have chosen that date so that it is sufficiently before the end of the school year. That way the students will have a chance to learn about the new plans for the Greening of Chipman School and take part in its growth. The end of the school year is 11 Jun 2009, so the earlier date in May is preferable. As soon as the date is agreed to with the PTA, we will ask everyone to mark their calendars and leave that Saturday free for volunteer work at the Chipman School gardens.

Justin Harrison and Stephen Young will rough out a budget proposal document to present to the PTA at their 23 February meeting.

Barbara Kahn will meet with Iris Watson to view the site and make suggestions. Stephen Young will contact the gardeners who were unable to attend today's meeting.

We have agreed to coordinate our activities with the very popular Slow Food, which recently held a regional meeting with 85,000 attendees in San Francisco. With their emphasis on regional farms and a healthy food revolution, they are enthusiastic about starting school food gardens, and have agreed to support our fundraiser. But we are moving the fundraiser day back until after the Build Day at Chipman in May, the exact day to be set later. Because so many opportunities for business creation and expansion are associated with the Slow Food organization, this is a popular approach both with educators and food businesses, and we are confident of a successful fundraiser.

We examined the gardens in place at the Alternatives in Action (AIA) campus at Woodstock School, and saw the photographs of the community garden started at Alameda High School in "The Essence of Alameda" published by the Alameda Sun. We are hoping for something similar to be placed in part of the play yard at the rear of the school. Besides a food garden, we hope the students will learn about water usage and drought-tolerant plant species.
You can see photos of our visit today at http://picasaweb.google.com/elsaknits/22Feb09ChipmanSchoolMeeting#

We all agreed that, inasmuch as Woodstock Park is located adjacent to Chipman School and between Chipman and AIA, that it would be beneficial to work out a much closer joint use agreement between the School District and the Alameda Recreation and Park Department to get the maximum use out of this facility to benefit the schools.

We will also consult a professional gardener soon to get a plan for how we might best spend our limited $2500 budget to spruce up the interior and front gardens at Chipman.

At the risk of repetition, we're listing our mission statement again:

1. Requested by President Obama as part of his efforts to involve Americans in public service, and initiated on 19 January 2009.
2. Linked to the President's green goals of energy efficiency and making the U.S. a leader on climate change.
3. Linked to the President's goals of making science education a national priority, especially through environmental science education.
4. Enhance the performance and pride of Chipman School, its students, faculty, parents, administration and neighbors.
5. Improving the greenspace and greenery available to Chipman School, thereby making it a more beautiful and attractive environment.

19 Feb MEETING REMINDER

2009-02-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m., our next meeting will take place at Chipman Middle School.

18 Feb Update on Blacktop question

2009-02-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

Stephen Young reports

Awhile back Barbara Kahn posted with a question that would concern the overall design of the green space. Whether or not their was a porous surface underneath the blacktop.

I just wanted to give an update. I got a chance to go by and look at the collapsing area earlier this week and if the rest of the yard is like the portion I saw we should be in pretty good shape. There's about two inches of blacktop, then underneath there is a sand and rock. We should get water drainage if we build on top of it.

This will definitely impact how we proceed and should give us a lot of options as we proceed.

15 Feb Great Progress for our Fundraiser

2009-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Barbara Mooney reports:

I have great news. I met with Mark Hardwick of Slow Food
Alameda. As it turns out the board of directors of Slow Food
Alameda, just decided to make their community effort this year a
focus on school gardens. Mark was very excited to make Chipman
the first one.

They are willing to get restaurants that do organic foods,
organize a fundraiser and bring helpers (and farmers) to help
with the garden. I gave mark the Google site so he could take
a look and they will bring some members to our next meeting (I
haven't confirmed how many). The one problem is we would have
to put off the fundraiser a few weeks as their big annual event
is the week before ours and they didn't think they could pull
it off that fast.

We have a PTA meeting coming up so we could vote to give the
group our grant money to use for the front and inside. I will
email as soon as I confirm the amount and any restrictions.

09 Feb U.C. Davis info

2009-02-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

A quick note from Janice Hayes

Sorry I missed yesterday's Chipman meeting, but I've asked Bob and Elsa to forward some information I found on line about how UC Davis can provide ideas about about school gardens.

Check out this web site

http://www.csgn.org/page.php?id=36

Their material is available at several levels, on-line, mailed to teachers for free, or purchased by anyone using the web. Teachers can get free copies if they send in a request.

Blog Changes

2009-02-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

We've tried to incorporate your suggestions for improving the Blog. We added a calendar, which now has just two events (Feb 22 and Mar 21). We had to change the template in order to avoid chopping off part of the calendar and event notices. We've also added labels, so that you can read all the posts on a particular topic. Before adding a post we'll put on some labels that we think apply. Just click on a particular label to see all posts with that label. We've moved Followers and Archive to the right-hand column Also, we have limited posts to 3 per page. Near the bottom of the page, on the right, you will find a link to Older Posts, which are displayed in chronological order, with the newest posts first. Please send us information on your plans and activities so we can keep using the blog to communicate about the project.

08 Feb Sample Project Plan

2009-02-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Steven had brought a binder/workbook from the Kids in Gardens Student Education Program 2008, sponsored by The Watershed Project, c2007. Here is a page we found especially interesting:

Garden Program Planning Worksheet

One of the most important steps in establishing a successful school garden program is to formulate and write up an overall garden plan. Whether your program involves a single classroom or an entire school, a well thought out plan will save you time and energy later as you lay out the garden site and incorporate the program into your curriculum. In addition to helping you organize materials and the day-to-day management of your program, having a strong plan to present can help you gain the support of school administrators, parents, and the local community. A complete, written description of your program is essential if you are seeking funding or donations to support the garden project and it can also serve as a publicity and public relations package.

Here are some points to consider when planning your school garden program:

1. What are your reasons for starting the program?

2. What are your goals for the program?

3. Who will participate in the program (school, community, volunteers, parents)?

4. How will the students participate in the program (involved in initial planning or once the beds are prepared; how often will they work in the garden, etc.)?

5. What will the size of the program be (school wide, single class, small group)? What ages will be involved?

6. What will the size of the garden site be (raised beds, containers, indoor size, etc.)?

7 How long will the program run (year-round, school year, spring only)?

8 What tools, materials and resources will you need (garden tools, soil amendments, seeds, literature, texts, science equipment, etc.)?

9. What are the costs involved (developing the site, gardening tools and supplies, curriculum and resource guides)?

10. What are your funding possibilities (grants, PTA, fundraising by students, etc.)?

11. Do you have the help and support of the school administration (support of principal, legally acceptable site with liability coverate, cooperation of custodians, etc.)?

08 Feb Successful Committee Meeting

2009-02-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

We had our second general meeting today at Chipman School, led by Stephen Young. Some of our members could not attend because of the annual "Circus for the Arts" fundraiser at Paden School. These include parents of children who will start at Chipman next year.

Remember to follow our blog at http://greenchipman.blogspot.com/ To "follow" the blog, just look near the bottom of the page, for the section named Followers, and click on "FOLLOW THIS BLOG."

If you want to make a comment to an existing post, just click on the "COMMENTS" link below the post and you will be able to discuss that post.

If you want to make your own post, please e-mail us at bobandelsa@gmail.com (our new e-mail address) and we'll post your item for everyone to read.

We are planning to improve and streamline the blogspot.

Friday, March 21 is set as the date for the Chipman Greening fundraiser, to be held at the school with a goal of $10,000. There will be refreshments, a tour, some fundraising events, and our plans for the project will be on display.

Sylvia Kahn is planning to visit the Harvey Milk Charter School in San Francisco to observe their campus beautification efforts, in particular the mosaic work. She will probably go on a Thursday in the middle of the day to avoid commuter traffic. Sylvia will post her plans on the blog and others may connect to carpool and make this field trip together.

Barbara Kahn reported that probably the blacktop behind the school has been built on a well-drained foundation, so that the process of putting in a small school planter would involve (a) breaking up and removing the macadam blacktop; (b) building a brick planting bed, probably around 2 feet high by 4 feet wide by (say) 15 feet long; (c) filling the bed with soil and watering lines. The location of the planter should be determined to keep good sunlight. We should verify this approach by looking under the blacktop somehow to insure that it does sit upon a well-drained foundation. This approach was suggested by Iris Watson, a local nursery owner.

We plan to ask the Maintenance of Facilities department of the school district to request one or more volunteers to join our project team. We should send a copy of our request to the superintendent, Kirsten Vital, with the original to Leland Knowles, Director of Maintenance of Facilities.

There is an Environmental Grant Writing Workshop on (date March 27? ask Stephen.) We should have a member in attendance.

We hope to take advantage of the neighboring Alameda Parks and Recreation Department land - ideally the heavy cyclone fence would come down, to be replaced by a more attractive hedge if needed for security. At the top level, the City and the School District believe they are very well-coordinated, but at the working level things seem to be a little different, as there are frequently obstacles to the Chipman school children making use of the Park for school activities. Clearly the Chipman Greening Project needs to continue to hold discussions to determine what the barriers are to more free and easy coordination and cooperation.

We have been unsuccessful in finishing our initial pruning of the existing plants and shrubs, because the school has not been opened on the weekend, when our volunteers are available for pruning. Betsy Ingram will contact David Weidner and make sure the school is open for him and David Eck to work.

We broke out into two subcommittees: one working on Finance, and one working on Project Design.

The Design Committee discussed the need to coordinate with the Chipman students on the project goals.

Ken Walsh and Ken Cornwall pointed out that we must concentrate on water conservation, and coordinate our project with East Bay MUD. Barbara Kahn noted that Doug Linney, who lives in Alameda, serves on the EBMUD Board. The two Kens have worked with their homeowners' association to design a water-efficient park adjacent to the Bay Farm Bridge. They used the services of Cagwin and Dorward, who in turn used the park to showcase their landscape contractor services.

Mark Briggs noted that one educational goal of the project for the Chipman students, would be to understand the ancient principles of crop rotation for preservation of a rich soil (for example, alternating beans and maize production).

If the prospect of breaking up some of the blacktop to add a planter behind the school is too difficult, Stephen Young suggested we might bring in some barrels or ceramic or even hanging basket planters.

Mark Briggs agreed to contact the Natural History Museum regarding drought resistant native plants that could do well in the school environment.

Another Design Committee member mentioned coordinating with the State of California Department of Agriculture or with UC Davis.

There is a West End School Neighborhood Network, and the Chipman Greening Project should publicize its activities through that network.

As a first cut at stating project goals, the Design Subcommittee suggests that this is a project:

1. Requested by President Obama as part of his efforts to involve Americans in public service, and initiated on 19 January 2009.
2. Linked to the President's green goals of energy efficiency and making the U.S. a leader on climate change.
3. Linked to the President's goals of making science education a national priority, especially through environmental science education.
4. Enhance the performance and pride of Chipman School, its students, faculty, parents, administration and neighbors.
5. Improving the greenspace and greenery available to Chipman School, thereby making it a more beautiful and attractive environment.

The Finance Committee met at the conclusion of the open meeting: Sylvia Kahn, Barbara Mooney, Alice Fried, Elsa Pendleton.

The first fundraiser will be held March 21, the first day of Spring, at Chipman School, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Barbara is in charge of food (acquiring, preparing, etc.). Sylvia is in charge of getting tickets and flyers printed and working with school reps, and will also get notices on the West End School Network. Alice is in charge of newspaper publicity and volunteers. Elsa is in charge of distributing flyers (and asking for donations from businesses).

One organization which could give us great help is the Rotary Club. Sylvia will ask Justin Harrison to work with Rotary.

One fundraising activity at the fundraiser will be Adopt A Vegetable. The Children will suggest vegetables and prepare artwork or other descriptive material about that vegetable, choosing a vegetable they would like to plant and tend. The opportunity to support (buy seed, plant, work in the garden with children supporting those vegetables) will be auctioned off.

Stephen Young suggested the project be called Project Greenspace.

The committee will correspond by email during the next week to report progress, problems, etc.

02 Feb Our Next Meeting

2009-02-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars: Our next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 8, at 2 p.m. at Chipman School.

27 Jan Suggestions for the blacktop

2009-01-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Barbara Kahn says:

New information--I spoke to Mark Allegrotti and Dick Austin about our project, and both told me that frequently blacktop was installed over an engineered product that was porous and would allow drainage. Both suggested that we break through the black top but not the material below and build up and use a retaining wall of some kind around the soil. If this is indeed the way the yard is constructed, it makes it easier I think in that we do not have to be concerned about utility lines etc. I am not sure of this, but probably we have to start by breaking through only a small portion of the yard to see what is there. I also think that if that is the route that we go, the retaining wall has infinite design potential.

26 Jan "Before" photos of Chipman School

2009-01-27T06:27:00.000-08:00

Lucky says:

Here are the before pictures of our Chipman Middle school green space project. Please copy the text below into your browser to view them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/integer.real/BeforeShotsProjectCreateAGreenSpaceAtChipmanMiddleSchoolInAlamedaCA?authkey=2_cbOQKy9ZI&feat=directlink

24 Jan First Gardening Project

2009-01-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

Lucky writes:

I have taken some pictures of the proposed work areas after our first meeting, and I will post/send them as soon as they are ready. These pictures are Before shots. I plan to take more pictures as we progress with our work.

Thank you David for calling me yesterday and informing me of cancelled meeting at the school due to not having access inside the school area. I don't know if anyone is coming today(Sunday). I am mostly home searching for a job and I can be available anytime needed.

21 Jan - Saturday's Planting Project

2009-01-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

David Weidner said...: Thank you for setting up this blog. I am scheduled to prune the existing greenery on Sat. Jan. 24, unless of course we have heavy rain. Who will be there to open up for those of us working that day? I'm available from 10 AM on. I can supply my own hand pruner, loppers, pole pruner and gloves. Unfortunately I have only one of each of these items. We will also need a small ladder(which I don't have). How will we be disposing of the debris? I have a small pick up truck and can take it with me. OH! and other items we need: tarps to gather the debris, buckets and soil and fertilizer. I have a few buckets and a tarp.

Susan Freeman said...

"Leaving the meeting on Monday I notice two planters along the main entrance sidewalk. These had weeds on Monday so, unless someone already beat met to it, would you like to plant something there. I can plant, but haven't the funds to buy plants."

21 Jan 09 Some Internet research

2009-01-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

We decided to see what other schools are doing to improve the green space on their campuses.
We got 18,700 hits on Google when we searched for "green space" and "middle school" and "improvement." This is a very popular idea, although many districts prefer to tackle such projects in connection with new or replacement schools. Here are just a few websites we found.

*Jamestown, ND had a televised ribbon cutting for their greenspace; see:
http://jamestown.localtoolbox.com/jamestown/read/publisher_23/2008-08-29.01

* In Washington, DC, Hine Middle School was closed in favor of Eliot Middle School, which had more green space. See:
www.k12.dc.us/rrr/documents/Hine%20Middle%20School.pdf

*Green space is a key planning issue for Washington schools. See also:
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:dovMcNGn5jEJ:www.21csf.org/csf-home/publications/MFPEvaluationChecklistSep2008.pdf+%22green+space%22+%22intermediate+school%22+OR+%22middle+school%22+improvement&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us

*Latin School is a new middle school in Chicago which has a 5,500 square foot green roof supplied by American Hydrotech, Inc. See:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_n24227636

*Green space is frequently named as a desirable feature by students, school and community leaders around the country.

*In Portsmouth, NH, a proposal was made to move a middle school adjacent to the high school in order to share green spaces. The proposal was controversial. See:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081013/NEWS/810130328

*The following goals were cited in the creation of a new middle school in Abbotsford, British Columbia:

The new school makes use of natural light and surroundings, including courtyards created to save existing vegetation and to form outdoor spaces for students and staff to gather and enjoy green space. Recycled materials were used in the floor coverings and furnishings, and low flow/low volume mechanical fixtures will reduce water consumption. The addition also includes energy conserving, high efficiency heating units. As well, several mature trees on the property were preserved, and to commemorate the official opening of the middle school staff and guests planted a maple tree in the courtyard adjacent to the cafeteria.
“This new school provides a modern environment for students to learn, grow and achieve their best,” said Education Minister Shirley Bond. “The green design will also help us reach our goal of reducing B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020.”

* We really liked this website put up by the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) in Malaysia. The broad environmental emphasis was exciting, as was the cooperation with other environmental agencies. Perhaps we should get the help of Environmental Groups near Alameda. For the ISKL site, see:
http://sustainableiskl.blogspot.com/

*The Friends of Sheboygan Falls Middle School (Wisconsin) are a volunteer group working on improving a local middle school. They were seeking a grant to help improve their playground and green space. See:
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:3gzOfz0jLdMJ:www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/schools/middleschool/pto/docs/friendsmtg0108.pdf+%22green+space%22+%22intermediate+school%22+OR+%22middle+school%22+improvement&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=12&gl=us

* San Francisco Beautiful Friedel Klussmann grants have awarded over $1.1 million to 274 separate beautification and green space programs in San Francisco. See:
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:NjGqUpH1fz0J:www.sfbeautiful.org/grants/SFB.Grants1988.2008web.pdf+%22green+space%22+%22intermediate+school%22+OR+%22middle+school%22+improvement&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us

19 Jan Kickoff

2009-01-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here are the minutes from the Kickoff meeting. Since this was the first meeting, all items are still under discussion and subject to change:

Short Term

* School mosaic on wall (take out tall junipers) with life skill / LLG theme
(See Sanchez School in Castro district)

* Mosaic stepping stones

* Tie community service hours to this work

* Partner with landscape architect for nursery for planning;

* Fix up what is already here

Barbara Kahn
Iris Watson (evaluate interior areas)
David Weidner

* Merritt College horticulture project

* East Bay MUD water conservation - Lena Tam

* Water requirements - Barbara Kahn

* Master Gardener program of Alameda County

* Ploughshares

* APL Growing Youth Program

* Fundraising for long term project - Justin Harrison (lead)

* AUSD / ARPD coordination (use of adjacent park by school) - Council member Frank Matarrese

Long Term

Kick-off Fundraiser March 21st - 1st day of spring - Evening

PTA will sponsor - On Chipman Middle School yard - Use school Kitchen
- Barbara Mooney and Justin Harrison

Edible garden

benches, place to read/quiet

tennis court

community art piece - hand print, other art by kids

* plant in ditch along left side of school (or get district to repair dangerous ditch)

* Field (artificial field shortage in Alameda - Sonneman, COA Feb 11th Field summit meeting

* Solar lights for field / school

* Rainwater collection site

* Sources for water - Barbara Kahn

Design

David Weidner - professional gardener (SF)
David Eck
Lucky

Community Art

Sylvia Kahn
Stephanie
Barbara Mooney

Solar Lights - Alyssa Gable

R&D - Resources - Financial and Knowledge

Database, Organization - Bob and Elsa Pendleton
Merritt College contact - Karen Green
Water usage / design - Barbara Kahn and Audrey Lord-Hausman
Fundraising - Justin Harrison, Barbara Mooney, Barbara Kahn, Alice Fried, Sylvia Kahn

Labor, Workers
David Weidner
Master Gardeners - long term maintenance - Janice Hayes
Planting - Susan Freeman

SHORT TERM TASKS

Fix up interior areas: Evaluate interior areas

David Weidner (SF gardener): will prune and care for existing plantings
David Eck: will assist
Lucky: will assist

Next meeting: Sunday, Feb 8 2:00 p.m.