Category Archives: Tyee Elementary School

Illuminate.

Illuminate means to make bright, to shed light on, and to bring clarity to. Group 28 brings clarity and insight in their CBEL project evaluating and promoting school initiatives.

CAN club events (censored faces for privacy reasons).

Group 28 was given the opportunity to observe and evaluate the success of Tyee Elementary’s “Child and Nature Club” (CAN club). In their CSL project they took video footage of interviews they had with kids, parents and teaching staff. Group 28 put together a video to promote the CAN Club and what it is all about: “Reconnecting with nature through sustainable practices that help maintain/improve the environment”.

CAN club events (censored faces for privacy reasons).

The data collected by Group 28 was about what makes CAN Club successful and could be used to provide some insight on whats aspects of the Think&EatGreen at school project were successful. Furthermore, Group 28’s video and report could help with gaining funding with grant funding for the Think&EatGreen at school program. Potentially this could provide future sustainability projects factors to focus on to give them a higher chance of success. Directly, Group 28’s five could provide other communities with some motivation to take initiative and follow suit in establishing an environmental club or other sustainable practices and coalitions. Group 28’s final thoughts about the CAN club and the project is that the effort requires a lot of support. It is greatly encouraging to see that the “teaching staff and parents have shown that they are motivated and dedicated to supporting the children as much as they can. Without this kind of support, success would be difficult”.

CAN club events (censored faces for privacy reasons).

`rtang

November 26, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Group 27: Harsh Winter Winds – Follow up with Bridget Kirkland

Group 27 assembling cold frames with students

I got a chance to sit down with Bridget Kirkland to speak to her about the experiences and the execution of their project. Group 27 had to build cold frames and create a crop rotation plan for Tyee Elementary School. They needed to create a survey in order to proceed with their projects so, two members were delegated to crop rotation plans, two were delegated to the cold fames and three members conducted the survey.

In order to put together the cold frames, 3 individuals went shopping for supplies at Home Depo. Unfortunately they faced a few set backs such as sold out inventory, limited services at Home Depo and the fact that the cold frames were too large to fit into the car. They were able to resolve these problems very quickly by cutting up the frames into smaller, reassembled sections. Two pre-assembly sessions were held within the team to ensure that all members knew how to put together the cold frames.

Two different models of cold frames for school garden

November 7th rolled around and group 27 headed to Tyee Elementary School to demonstrate the construction of the cold frames with students in grade 6. Two different models were presented and Tyee has the choice between which frame they prefer after the winter months have passed. Each of the frames had different advantages. The hood house (arched frame) allows more sunlight and gives the plants more space to grow, whereas the shorter one protects more from strong winds. We will just have to wait and see which frame Tyee Elementary School picks.

-H

November 21, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Group 23: The Story Of Bread

The food system is a frequently used term in dialogs and discussions about health, food, nutrition and the community.  It includes all processes used to feed a population. This is what group 23 has done with the story of bread; using bread as the study case to demonstrate the infrastructure involved in the food system. Two workshops have been conducted at Tyee Elementary School for 6th and 7th grade students and a third will be facilitated within the next two weeks to complete this Think&Eat@School project. Students were introduced to the story of bread, grain production and how it’s farmed, harvested and made through 5 different activities. These activities included milling, nutrition fact tables and different grains. Part of group 23’s approach and methods of collecting qualitative feedback about these workshops is allocating time for students to create mind maps in groups.  Group 23 reported that most students knew a lot more than expected about the food systems but a certain group of students had some feedback that was different from all other groups in the 6th and 7th grade at Tyee elementary school. When asked what food means to them, this group responded with names of fast food chains and other unhealthy food choices. It is interesting to see how some students group together, and perhaps report answers that may not be true to themselves due to the sense of belonging (i.e. peer pressure) to fit in with their group mates. Hopefully this will change by the end of the third workshop, where they will all participate in preparing bread with group 23. What type of bread will they be preparing? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.

-H

November 4, 2012Permalink Leave a comment