Glover Outdoor Classroom Patriot Ledger

MILTON - Ten-year-old Danny Saldivar looked down at the wide circle of wet black earth at his feet.

He was about to plant one of the 650 bulbs of daffodils, tulips, and crocus that began the transformation last month of a barren courtyard in the center of Glover Elementary School in Milton. It is expected to become a vibrant outdoor classroom - complete with a butterfly garden, shallow pond, and rocky slope - where students from kindergarten through fifth grade will come to study everything from science to art.

‘‘It's just a good thing I wore my boots,'' Danny said.

But even two days of lashing rain couldn't deter the two women who organized the week-long bulb planting and who are spearheading a district wide push to equip every public school in Milton with a similar ‘‘living laboratory.''

‘‘We hope this will be the model and the template for all the schools to look at,'' says longtime Milton resident Natalie Albers, who came up with the idea last year after visiting an outdoor classroom in Virginia. An advocate for improving public schools, she saw an opportunity for creating something similar in Milton when the town began its school construction and renovation project.

Since then, Albers and Janet MacNeil, the mother of fourth- and eighth-graders, have created a district-wide task force on how to design and raise private funds to pay for ‘‘schoolyard habitats.''

‘‘The grounds at every school (in Milton) would be planted with native shrubs and flowers,'' said MacNeil, who has spent hours in the library at Glover setting up microscopes, arranging plant displays, and pulling together books that will be part of the outdoor classroom curriculum.

The bulb-planting was the first in a series of activities centered around the courtyard that will extend beyond gardening to identifying the kinds of birds attracted to the courtyard, nature drawing, poetry and writing, and habitat studies.

‘‘It's not really just a school project. Everything we do we want to share with other schools and teachers.''

The cost of the outdoor classroom at Glover is expected to be about $12,000. The cost will be paid through private donations, grants, business partnerships, and fund-raisers - an important point when it comes to persuading other schools to invest in outdoor classrooms.

‘‘We're not just showing the idea,'' says MacNeil. ‘‘We're committed to helping other schools with funding sources.''

Two local nurseries have donated bulbs and planting material, along with practical gardening help and advice.

‘‘I think it's a great idea,'' says Milton High School Principal John Drottar. ‘‘Most of the time you go out the front or side door and you're stepping right into a parking lot.'' With the high school still under construction, Drottar says an outdoor lab is about a year away.
Glover Principal Brenda Braithwaithe said the project is worth the wait. ‘‘It's brought parents and other community people into the school.''

The Glover courtyard was designed by Learning by the Yard, a nationally known Massachusetts landscape architecture firm that specializes in schoolyard habitat design.

‘‘That was the key,'' says MacNeil. ‘‘We knew from research how important it was to get a really solid plan in effect. We needed to know how to entice the children outdoors.''
Flowing with color, the schematic, which hangs in the Glover lobby, conjures a vision of woods, meadows, curving paths and a pergola heavy with flowers.

Fifth-grader Michael MacKenzie, hefting a trowel and getting ready to dig a hole for his daffodil, enjoyed his part in making the plan a reality. On a ‘‘fun scale'' of one to 10, he gave the bulb planting lab a nine. ‘‘Just so long as there are no worms as big as my head in the dirt,'' he said.

Seven-year-old Connor Walsh was slightly less enthusiastic. As far as he's concerned, the The Great Plant Escape web site on how bulbs grow is at least as interesting than anything going on outside.

‘‘I like finding stuff on the computer,'' he said.

Which is exactly why Albers and MacNeil are determined to help children reconnect with the quieter beauty and slower rhythms of Mother Nature.
Albers looked at the pictures that children at Glover drew last year to illustrate what they wanted to see growing and living in this outdoor classroom.

There is a green field dotted with purple flowers. A blue frog pond. A yellow submarine. A red birdbath. An ice cream stand. A waterfall.

‘‘Every year the kids can change what is in their garden,'' Albers said. ‘‘It's not mine. It's not Janet's. Like the children, it will evolve over time.''

The Glover Elementary School outdoor classroom's web site is: http://home.comcast.net/~gloveroutdoorclassroom/homepage.html



	LOCAL NEWS A learning idea with growth potential By JESSIE THUMA For The Patriot Ledger MILTON - Ten-year-old Danny Saldivar looked down at the wide circle of wet black earth at his feet. He was about to plant one of the 650 bulbs of daffodils, tulips, and crocus that began the transformation last month of a barren courtyard in the center of Glover Elementary School in Milton. It is expected to become a vibrant outdoor classroom - complete with a butterfly garden, shallow pond, and rocky slope - where students from kindergarten through fifth grade will come to study everything from science to art. ‘‘It's just a good thing I wore my boots,'' Danny said. But even two days of lashing rain couldn't deter the two women who organized the week-long bulb planting and who are spearheading a district wide push to equip every public school in Milton with a similar ‘‘living laboratory.'' ‘‘We hope this will be the model and the template for all the schools to look at,'' says longtime Milton resident Natalie Albers, who came up with the idea last year after visiting an outdoor classroom in Virginia. An advocate for improving public schools, she saw an opportunity for creating something similar in Milton when the town began its school construction and renovation project. Since then, Albers and Janet MacNeil, the mother of fourth- and eighth-graders, have created a district-wide task force on how to design and raise private funds to pay for ‘‘schoolyard habitats.'' ‘‘The grounds at every school (in Milton) would be planted with native shrubs and flowers,'' said MacNeil, who has spent hours in the library at Glover setting up microscopes, arranging plant displays, and pulling together books that will be part of the outdoor classroom curriculum. The bulb-planting was the first in a series of activities centered around the courtyard that will extend beyond gardening to identifying the kinds of birds attracted to the courtyard, nature drawing, poetry and writing, and habitat studies. ‘‘It's not really just a school project. Everything we do we want to share with other schools and teachers.'' The cost of the outdoor classroom at Glover is expected to be about $12,000. The cost will be paid through private donations, grants, business partnerships, and fund-raisers - an important point when it comes to persuading other schools to invest in outdoor classrooms. ‘‘We're not just showing the idea,'' says MacNeil. ‘‘We're committed to helping other schools with funding sources.'' Two local nurseries have donated bulbs and planting material, along with practical gardening help and advice. ‘‘I think it's a great idea,'' says Milton High School Principal John Drottar. ‘‘Most of the time you go out the front or side door and you're stepping right into a parking lot.'' With the high school still under construction, Drottar says an outdoor lab is about a year away. Glover Principal Brenda Braithwaithe said the project is worth the wait. ‘‘It's brought parents and other community people into the school.'' The Glover courtyard was designed by Learning by the Yard, a nationally known Massachusetts landscape architecture firm that specializes in schoolyard habitat design. ‘‘That was the key,'' says MacNeil. ‘‘We knew from research how important it was to get a really solid plan in effect. We needed to know how to entice the children outdoors.'' Flowing with color, the schematic, which hangs in the Glover lobby, conjures a vision of woods, meadows, curving paths and a pergola heavy with flowers. Fifth-grader Michael MacKenzie, hefting a trowel and getting ready to dig a hole for his daffodil, enjoyed his part in making the plan a reality. On a ‘‘fun scale'' of one to 10, he gave the bulb planting lab a nine. ‘‘Just so long as there are no worms as big as my head in the dirt,'' he said. Seven-year-old Connor Walsh was slightly less enthusiastic. As far as he's concerned, the The Great Plant Escape web site on how bulbs grow is at least as interesting than anything going on outside. ‘‘I like finding stuff on the computer,'' he said. Which is exactly why Albers and MacNeil are determined to help children reconnect with the quieter beauty and slower rhythms of Mother Nature. Albers looked at the pictures that children at Glover drew last year to illustrate what they wanted to see growing and living in this outdoor classroom. There is a green field dotted with purple flowers. A blue frog pond. A yellow submarine. A red birdbath. An ice cream stand. A waterfall. ‘‘Every year the kids can change what is in their garden,'' Albers said. ‘‘It's not mine. It's not Janet's. Like the children, it will evolve over time.'' The Glover Elementary School outdoor classroom's web site is: http://home.comcast.net/~gloveroutdoorclassroom/homepage.html Copyright 2003 The Patriot Ledger Transmitted Monday, November 24, 2003