MHS Life Skills Class Plants Bulbs and Plans Monarch Butterfly Waystation

Glover Planting

Barometers and Milkweed at Glover

Patio Tables at MHS

Pierce Outdoor Classroom Plan Unveiled

Bloomin’ Sunflowers!

Glover’s Natural Arbor

Collicot Class of 2006 donates brick to the Collicot Outdoor Classroom

Mysterious Figures Invade the Courtyard Gardens at MHS

Snapping Turtle Makes a Nest at Glover

Glover Habitat Club Digs In!

Make way for Ducklings!

Boston Globe Reporter Visits Glover Outdoor Classroom 

Help Us Buy Patio Tables for the MHS Courtyard! 

Milton Outdoor Classrooms Receives Prestigious Excellence in Environmental Education Award

Thayer Nursery Pitches In to Help Milton Outdoor Classroom Projects

Pierce Spring Fling Raises Funds for Pierce Outdoor Classroom

Milton Outdoor Classrooms Featured at Boston HOOT Screening

Mrs. Mallard Returns to Glover

Glover Outdoor Classroom T-Shirts On Sale!!

The Life Skills Program students at Milton High School are already thinking about Springtime! These students and their parents donated flower bulbs (daffodils, tulips, and crocuses) and planted them in the triangle as you enter Gile Road. While planting the bulbs, the students learned new vocabulary and started a journal of their activities. In the spring, they’ll record the appearance of the bulbs in their journal.

The students will also be following the annual migration of the monarch butterflies that travel each year from southern Canada to central Mexico. The trip can be from 2,000 to 4,000 miles. Imagine a trip that long for such a small insect! Good thing they travel light. This spring, the Life Skills students hope to create a Monarch Waystation containing milkweed plants in the Courtyard Gardens at MHS. This will help a new generation of butterflies eat and grow next summer and help them in the next migration of Fall 2007. The students will keep you posted on what we see and learn.

Cathy Smith and volunteers recently spent some time in the courtyard weeding, mowing and planting perennials in the wildflower meadow. Jeremy Dick form the Boston City Native Nursery (established by Boston Natural Areas Network) graciously donated the perennials. Click here to see some pictures.

Second graders at Glover enjoyed two new activities designed by Glover parent Margaret Eberhardt. Students created homemade barometers with glass jars and balloons and studied the milkweed plant, a native perennial that is a habita for the monarch butterfly. You can read about these activities and see some pictures of the activities by clicking here.

The Courtyard Gardens at MHS has some new additions to the lovely Patio Terrace off the cafeteria. Thanks to donations to the Milton Outdoor Classrooms, 3 patio tables have been purchased and are already in use (click here to see a picture). The tables are sturdy, attractive round tables that seat 8 adults and are constructed of plastic-coated steel. They come with umbrella holes so that we can provide shade in the future as well.

The tables cost about $700 each (including shipping) and we’d like to buy at least 8. Please help us by donating to raise money for tables. Any little bit helps!

To donate, send your check (made out to Milton Outdoor Classrooms, noting “Patio Tables” in the memo line) to Janet MacNeil, 23 Oak Road, Milton, MA 02186. Questions, contact Janet at 617.698.7013, janetmacneil@comcast.net.

On October 3, 2006, Ruth Parnall and Ginny Sullivan unveiled the draft plan for the Pierce Outdoor Classroom for the Pierce faculty and interested parents. The plan, which includes the entire school grounds, includes a fitness trail, wildflower meadows, a pond, community garden, outside performance space, and much more (click here to see the plan). A meeting will be held on October 24^th at 2:30, Pierce Library to discuss the plan and talk about next steps. Comments on the draft plan are encouraged!

Bloomin’ Sunflowers! 

Glover’s Natural Arbor 

Collicot Class of 2006 donates brick to the Collicot Outdoor Classroom 

Mysterious Figures Invade the Courtyard Gardens at MHS 

Snapping Turtle Makes a Nest at Glover

 On Friday, a female snapping turtle was spotted digging a nest in the grassy area near the Brook Road/Canton Avenue Turner’s Pond parking lot. Several classes were able to observe her in the morning before she ambled off toward Pine Tree Brook (perhaps for lunch?). Click here for some pictures. We’re not sure if she returned to lay her eggs or not. We’ll have to keep a lookout for her. For more information on snapping turtles, check out the Snapping Turtle Information Sheet.

 We also spotted Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings dabbling in Pine Tree Brook. They looked happy in their secluded spot!

Glover Habitat Club Digs In!

Today (May 26, 2006) our resident mallard, nesting under the eastern red cedar in the outdoor classroom, successfully led her 11 ducklings out of the courtyard, through the school and into Turner's Pond. The move was watched by the Glover student body as well as the Boston Globe (click here for a link to the article and pictures), The Milton Times and Channel 4 news (click here to see the newscast). Our duck wranglers (Janet MacNeil, Cathy Smith and Scott Hainline) gently herded the ducks through the doorway leading into the school, down a short hallway and outside. There, Mrs Mallard, closely followed by her ducklings, paraded down the walkway which was bordered on both sides by amazingly quiet students. They reached the pond in under ten minutes and were soon foraging for food near the shore.

Click here for some pictures of some of the highlights. You can also click here and see a short (~3 minutes) video. For those of you with a DSL or cable modem there is a longer (~10 minutes) version.

To learn morre about mallards, click here to download an information sheet.

Along with Mrs. Mallard, a robin has nested in the same tree and the pair of baby robins have hatched. As of yesterday (May 19), they were just trying out their new wings. Below is a short movie clip of one of the chicks resting between attempts (learning to fly is hard work!). Also below is a short clip of Mrs Mallard.

Thayer Nursery Pitches In to Help Milton Outdoor Classroom Projects

The 2^nd Annual Pierce Spring Fling, which was held April 8, 2006 at the Milton Woman’s Club, raised over $6,000 for the Pierce Outdoor Classroom. The party was a great evening for Pierce parents, faculty and friends to socialize and enjoy hor d’oevres prepared by Ken Savino of Simply Delicious. Click here for a few pictures.

On March 22^nd, members of the Milton Outdoor Classroom team and Glover students who participated in the Glover Outdoor Classroom t-shirt contest were special guests at a preview of the new movie HOOT. Prior to the movie, the National Wildlife Federation highlighted the Milton Outdoor Classroom project, one of the most successful habitat programs in the Boston area. The screening of the mystery adventure movie, which focuses on middle school students working together to protect owls in their Florida habitat, was held at the AMC Loews Boston Common 19 theatre. The movie is based on Carl Hiaasen’s Newbery Honor-winning book.

As some of you may remember, last April (2005) a pair of mallards were house hunting in the Glover Outdoor Classroom (click here to see the news link). Apparently, Mrs. Mallard liked what she saw because she has returned and built a nest under the Eastern Red Cedar. The area has been blocked so as not to disturb the mother or the nest.  She chose this site and must feel comfortable here but she will abandon the nest if she feels threatened.  When you are in the courtyard, please observe from a distance. We will post pictures on the website to keep you updated (click here to see the first photos courtesy of Cathy Smith). Below is some information about mallard ducks:

• Mallard ducks are the most abundant of all waterfowl.
• Their habitat is lakes, ponds, rivers, and marshes.
• They eat aquatic plants, aquatic insects, grasses, seeds and grains.
• They nest from March to July.
• Their nests are located on the ground, bowl shaped, 7 to 8” in diameter and are lined them with vegetation and duck down.
• The average egg clutch is 8-12 eggs.  They can be pale green to white.  They only have one brood per year.
• The young hatch within 26 to 30 days.  They are completely mobile and can feed themselves.  They often leave the nest in 1 day.
• Both eggs and ducklings fall prey to fox, skunk, coyote, turtle and large fish.
• The male Mallard is gray with a distinct green head.  The female is a mottled brown with a dull orange beak

Glover Outdoor Classroom T-Shirts On Sale!! 

Buy a t-shirt to support the Glover Outdoor Classroom! Two types of shirts are available (both are on display outside the cafeteria). One features a beautiful, multi-color drawing of the courtyard. The other is a green, text-only shirt. Both include our motto: “Glover Outdoor Classroom—Where Your Brain Blooms!” Click here to see a picture.

To order, click here to download the form as a pdf file and send it, with a check made out to Milton Outdoor Classrooms, to: Kathy Fagan, 78 Capen St., Milton, MA 02186.

A project to transform the new Pierce Middle School grounds into a learning area for students and habitat for birds and butterflies has begun with enthusiastic support from Pierce administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Learning by the Yard (the landscape architect team that designed the outdoor classrooms at Glover Elementary School, Milton High School, and Tucker Elementary School) has been hired to create a design based on input from the Pierce teachers and students. The design plan will encompass the entire school grounds.

A design workshop was held in January for interested teachers, administrators, and parents. During the session, attendees brainstormed about curriculum that can be taught outside and the types of features that will help teachers provide hands-on learning for the students. Interested Pierce students attended a similar workshop in March and helped the designers assess the current school grounds to determine existing habitat, pathways, and water drainage. The students also brainstormed ideas on what can be included in the plan to provide additional habitat and features for student use (click here for a picture). In addition, surveys were sent out to all faculty and students to get their input.

The ideas and information gathered during the Pierce workshops and from the surveys will be used by Learning by the Yard to create a draft plan, which is expected to be completed this spring. Some of the features under consideration are outdoor seating areas for classes, wildflower meadows, a geology rock garden, an outdoor art workyard, outdoor sculptures created by Pierce students, benches, birdfeeders, a sundial, a labyrinth, a weather station, picnic tables, and peaceful reading areas.

The proceeds of the 2^nd Annual Pierce Spring Fling will benefit the project, which is totally funded by private donations and grants. The Spring Fling will be held Saturday, April 8^th from 7:00 PM to 11:45 PM at the Milton Woman’s Club. The event will include a silent auction, raffle, cash bar, music and dancing. Tickets are $30.00. For ticket information, contact Vickie Muse, vickiemuse@comcast.net.

The Pierce Outdoor Classroom project is being coordinated by Milton Outdoor Classrooms, a nonprofit partnership that is working with the school administration, teachers, students, and community members to create outdoor classrooms at all Milton Public Schools. To donate or for further information, check out the Milton Outdoor Classrooms web site at www.miltonoutdoorclassrooms.com or call 617.698.7013.

TUCKER OUTDOOR CLASSROOM OPEN HOUSE

Glover Celebrates Schoolyard Habitat Certification at Spring Concerts

On March 15^th, the Glover School celebrated the certification of the Glover Outdoor Classroom as a National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Schoolyard Habitat. In order to receive the certification, the school had to show that the outdoor classroom provides all the elements of habitat for birds and butterflies (food, water, shelter, and places to raise young), and document how the space is used to educate the students. The Glover Outdoor Classroom, which is located in the school’s new courtyard, has been created by a team of teachers, parents, students, and community members with donations from a wide variety of sources.

The celebration was part of the Glover School Spring Concerts and was coordinated by music teacher Mrs. April Allegrezza and the Glover Outdoor Classroom team. The theme of the concert was “A Child’s Garden of Songs,” and the kindergarten (including Cunningham and Collicot kindergarten), first, second, and third grade students sang a wide range of songs about nature. In addition, they gave a brief summary of the Glover Outdoor Classroom project and presented the NWF Schoolyard Habitat Certificate of Achievement and sign to Glover Principal, Dore Korschun (click here for a picture). The sign is now proudly displayed in the front of the school.

To raise funds for the project, Glover Outdoor Classroom t-shirts will go on sale soon. The new slogan, which will be included on the t-shirts, was submitted by 4^th grader Kate Rosner: “The Glover Outdoor Classroom—Where Your Brain Blooms.” The t-shirt design was created by 2^nd grader Shea Rulon. T-shirt designs were also submitted by Samantha Brennan, Briggitte Dugas, Marc Dugas, David Golden, Anne Marie Grudem, Liz Kaster, Maggie O’Hanlon, Mick O’Hanlon, Max Papile, Clara Tennyson, and Willem van den Bosch. All of the designs have been combined into a collage poster, which is on display at Glover.

For more information about the Glover Outdoor Classroom, go to the Milton Outdoor Classrooms website (www.miltonoutdoorclassrooms.com) or call Janet MacNeil, 617.698.7013.

A team of Pierce Middle School administrators, teachers, parents, and students has started planning an outdoor classroom that will encompass the entire school grounds. Learning by the Yard (the landscape architect team that designed the outdoor classrooms at Glover, MHS, and Tucker) has been hired to create a design based on input from the Pierce teachers and students.

A design workshop was held on January 24, 2006 for interested teachers, administrators, and parents (click here for some pictures). During the session, attendees brainstormed about curriculum that can be taught outside and the types of features that will help teachers provide hands-on learning for the students. Soon after, a questionnaire was given to all Pierce teachers and students to get their ideas. Some of the features under consideration are outdoor seating areas for classes, wildflower meadows, a geology rock garden, an outdoor art workyard, outdoor sculptures created by Pierce students, benches, birdfeeders, a sundial, a labyrinth, a weather station, picnic tables, and peaceful reading areas.

Using the survey results, Learning by the Yard will prepare a draft plan for the Pierce Outdoor Classroom. The draft is expected to be ready for review in the spring. In the meantime, fundraising for the project is well underway. The 2^nd annual Pierce Spring Fling, which will benefit the project, will be held April 8^th at the Milton Women’s Club.

The plan utilizes native plants (plants that originated in this area and are best suited to our environment) because they provide the most benefit to birds and butterflies, and require less maintenance than exotic species. Some of the native plants to be used at Tucker include: striped maple, Eastern red cedar, sassafras, dogwood, sweetfern, American hazelnut, witchhazel, low bush blueberry, and numerous types of native wildflowers. The plan can be viewed on the Tucker Outdoor Classrooms website.

The Tucker Outdoor Classroom project is being coordinated by Tucker parents Roxanne Musto, Colleen Lawler (a Milton Habitat Steward), Lisa Rubenstein, and Deb Trickett with the support of principal Dr. Pamela Mason. The committee has involved teachers and students from the start in their effort to foster an appreciation of nature and make connections to existing curriculum. So far, the team has involved students and teachers in the design process, planted over 1,300 bulbs with all Tucker students (including preschoolers), hatched painted lady butterflies with all students and set the butterflies free on the school grounds, created pollinator gardens in containers, and purchased books for students and teachers to use outside. According to Roxanne Musto, “The benefits of the outdoor classroom are tremendous for Tucker students. Although the school grounds are small, we’re going to turn them into a creative and inviting space for learning and playing in nature.”

Now that a plan is in place, the next step is to fundraise for plant materials, benches, and birdfeeders that are needed to make the plan a reality.

For further information or to donate to the project, contact Roxanne Musto, 333-0235, rmusto@comcast.net.

-Janet MacNeil, Milton Times, 2/9/06

Letter to the Editor:

As of December 15, 2005, Milton became the first Certified Community Wildlife Habitat in New England (14^th in the entire nation)—a very positive achievement for our town. We achieved this honor as a result of our work over the last 4 years to create outdoor classrooms at all Milton public schools and to educate residents about creating habitats for birds and butterflies in their backyards and public spaces. As part of these continuing activities, we hope to have a positive effect on Milton residents (children and adults alike), as well as the wildlife of Milton, for many years to come.

Milton Outdoor Classrooms would like to thank all the people and groups who helped make this happen. First of all, we ‘d like to thank the Milton Public Schools administrators, teachers, and students for their continued support and involvement in the outdoor classroom projects at all Milton schools. Special thanks also to our other partners: the National Wildlife Federation, Boston Natural Areas Network, the Town of Milton and the Foundation for Education.

We’d also like to thank our Milton Habitat Steward team, a terrific group of trained volunteers who have gone out into the community to help educate residents about creating backyard habitats, and who continue to create and implement the school outdoor classrooms. The Steward team consists of: Mary Truslow, Pete Jackson, Barb Phinney, Kara Barry, Yoshi Belash, Cathy Bly, Jocelyn Burke, Melinda Collins, Janet Curtis, Martha Curtis, Annie Davis, Margaret Eberhardt, Andrea Gordon, Jennifer Green, Karen Hainline, Ann Hospelhorn, Mary Keally, Branch Lane, Colleen Lawler, Emma Jean Moulton, Patti Mullan, Gay O’Hanlon, Craig Ramsdell, Cathy Smith, Lisa White, and honorary Habitat Steward and webmaster, Ian MacNeil. In addition, there are many other parents, students, and community members who have helped on the outdoor classroom projects at the various schools—too many to list here. Thank you all for your part in this continuing project!!

The Milton Outdoor Classroom project relies solely on donations and grant money for our activities—no funds from the Milton Public School or town budget are used. Therefore, we would like to thank the many parents, groups and community members who have made donations, given us grant money, or provided services at no charge including: the Cunningham Foundation, the Milton Junior Women’s Club, the Milton Garden Club, the MHS Class of 1952, the Columbine/Cliff Neighborhood Association, the Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom program, Harvard Pilgrim, the National Gardening Association, Thayer Nursery, A. Thomas and Son, Johnstone Builders, Hartney Greymont Tree Services, Eagle Farms, Will Sand and Gravel, AVO Cedar Fencing, and several anonymous donors.

Many thanks to the Milton residents who have certified their backyard habitats so far as part of the project (in order of certification, as of December 15, 2005): Betsy and Jim McKenzie, the MacNeil family, Natalie Albers, Barbara and Ben Phinney, John A Cronin, Frederick & Claire Kast, Solana Czwakiel, Isabelle Gray, Kendall Hall, Kimberly Herbert, Elsie Martinson, Sarah Muse, Kate Rosner, Claire Hernon, Torie Zimmer, the Collins family, Michael Larkin, Peter L. Runton, Christina and Jack Curtis, Andrea Gordon, the Keally family, the Hainline family, Veronica Guerrero-Macia, Seth And Elizabeth Buckley, Peter Jackson and Donna Dickerson, the Smith family, Anne Walters, Sherry Osborn, the Truslow family, Dorothy and Christopher Pitt, Gay O'Hanlon, Leslie And Tony Will, Annie Davis, Guy And Mary Joe Hughes, the Cluett family, T. J. Cluett, Cecille and Jerry Friedler, Lisa White and Jeff Stoodt, Margaret Dillon, David and Marjorie S Jeffries, Richard Malmstrom, Yoshi Belash, Patti Mullan, Dorothy Weinkam, Marie and Jonathan Brown, Walter Jonas, Ellen Celli, Cee Cee Cornish, the Eberhardt family, Roxanna Hurst, George Joseph, Elizabeth Mozek, James Mullen Jr., Anita Penta and Glenn Pavlicek, Mary Jeanne Langevin, Kai Armstrong, Judith Darrell Kemp, Sidney Kenyon, The Putnam family, Lynne Taylor, Elizabeth and Philippe Plageman, the Drain family, Elaine Hutchins, Emma Jean Moulton, Christopher Olson, the Viveiros family, Wendy Ingram, Jocelyn Burke, Anne Malone, Charles McCarthy,the Daylor family, Ellen DeNooyer, Fleeka Eder, Marie Jane Greeley, Martha T. Curtis, Kristine and Paul Hodlin, Brian and Liz Mcguire, Cathy Bly, Elizabeth and Robert Neville, Ada Rosmarin, Joan and Thomas Analetto, the Brennan family, the Malcolm and Dawson family, the Sloane family, Janet and Andrew Hanley, Joan And Beirne Lovely, Dr. and Mrs. J.T.  Rusnock, Laurie Stillman and Robert Rosofsky, Marta and Hugh Stringer, Milton Housing Authority-Miller Ave., Judy & Simon George, Marcia Gorfinkle, Mary Gormley, Donald & Susan Monack, Carol Stocker and Robert Mussey, Fran And John Karoff, Deb And Sam Rodman, Amy Serio, Ann White and Ann Hallett, Katherine Sims, the Kwaku family, the Mclaughlin family, Laurie Sheridan, the Alsebai family, Janet Gilmore, Ruth Smith, Robert B Tamkin, Lisa Mcmuller, Linda and Tom Palmer, the Fahy family, Nancy Skinner, Annie Downes, the O'Grady family, Ruth Baltopoulos, Alison Corcoran, Barbara Fournier, Kathy Huntington, Mark and Patricia Ostrem, the Papile family, the White family, Abby Zonies, the Golden family, Edith Clifford, Katherine Dunphy, Virginia McCullough, Karla Clifford, Hazel Dunn, Bunny Marquardt, Ann Martinson, Jim May, Randall Rucker, the Shaw family, Diane Ferrari, Martha Kennedy & John O'Connor, Julie And Bob Marotta, Frances and Ralph Westhaver, Judith Arms and Stephen Davis, Mary Cummings, the Henry family, Jay And Susan Olin, Ellen Rogers, Dorothy Snow, the Twigg-Taylor family, Marie And Michael Ashton, Anne Bishop, Marianne Cummings, the Haynes family, Judy Lieberman, Lucy Meadows, the Marcus family, the Davis family, the Dieman/O'Brien family, Charlie & Kitty Sargent, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Downes, Mark and SaSa Panarese, Lisa and Chris Huban, Paul Muller, the O'Malley family, Parisa Parsa, the Ryder family, and Phyllis Bartol.

Finally, we would like to thank the public groups that certified their properties as habitats, including: the Blue Hills Trailside Museum, Cunningham Park, the First Congregational Church, First Parish Unitarian Church, Fuller Village, Milton Cemetery, the Milton Historical Society (Suffolk Resolves House), Milton Hospital, the Milton Public Library, Milton Town Hall, the Milton Police Station, the Village School, several Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation sites, and many town parks and lands.

-Natalie Albers and Janet MacNeil, Milton Outdoor Classroom Coordinators, Milton Times 1/26/06

HELP DESIGN A T-SHIRT FOR THE GLOVER OUTDOOR CLASSROOM!! 

The Glover Outdoor Classroom is celebrating its certification as a Schoolyard Habitat!!

Milton Certified as the First Community Wildlife Habitat in New England

As part of a townwide effort to teach children and adults about creating habitats for birds and butterflies, Milton, MA has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as the first Community Wildlife Habitat in New England--the 14^th community in the entire U.S. to have achieved this honor. Click here to read more. See who else is a certified community along with Milton on the NWF website.