Garden Update and NEWS!

The spring garden season started with an amazing $500 grant from the Erie County Farm Bureau.

We immediately priced out fencing as well as some rock/stone walkways between the beds to minimize maintenance and make it more aesthetically appealing.  The animals made last growing season less successful.  We knew that this was our next big "need"!

The hard work began in late April.  A team of families and teachers met for a wet, cold day of work!  Unfortunately, we did not have the right equipment to do everything that day.  Over the next few weeks, several parent volunteers came in to get this done!  It has been amazing.

April 27th Earth Day Work Day

In late June, there was another work day to weed, transfer seeds, and getting our garden off to a strong start.

It was a wet June followed by a dry, hot July.  The garden started producing in early August.   Wattsburg School District also contracted with a new food service company, The Nutrition Group, who create our menus through Nutrislice.  They are super excited to partner with the garden and feature our produce as the "vegetable" of the day.

What are we growing?  Yellow beans, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, and melons.  We know the names of some of our produce that we are growing.  Some produce is unknown!  Sticks fade and get lost/removed.  The seeds were donated by Baker Creek. 

Our Daisy troop added a small section of plants.  The green bean plant did the best!  They are frozen with our yellow beans for the school lunches!







THEN ON THURSDAY AUGUST 29th, Senator Brooks surprised and presented Wattsburg Elementary Center with a $50,000 grant to expand the garden and STEAM programs.  WOW....It was so shocking!

So here are some pictures of the garden pictures from Senator Brooks.

Pop bottle greenhouse and picture with Senator Brooks

Kindergarten exploring the garden
(You can see the rock paths and fence!)

Garden Abundance

Everyone Has a Story

I have been working on the"mom and dad" homework...SCHOOL FORMS, teacher letters, etc...

Both TJ and Bella-Ann's teachers asked me what is my goal for my child this school year.  One even wanted to know what my goal for her was and for the school.  My open speaker, Denise McDowell, at our inservice asked us to mentally think about our goal as an educator.   In addition, our administration talked about their goals for teachers in the district!  Th

I get it...I need to talk about goals. 

So here are my morning thoughts on goals for STEAM this year.

First, I have a theme or topic that I want to follow..."What is your story?".  Think about it...

Every student has a story

Every teacher has a story

Every administrator has a story

But more than that...in STEAM...every day items have a story.  Think about the computer...it has a story.  Think about a pencil...it has a story.  Think about  the ___________ (you can fill in the blank)...it has a story!

I want students to start asking questions on their own and I hope that I can spark them to be curious about the items that we use every day.  2nd and 3rd grade are going to start this with the book

So my first goal is to get everyone asking "What is his story?  What is her story?  What is this items story?"  Asking leads to learning!

Secondly, I want to increase my students knowledge of the keyboard.  Students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade will spend about 15 minutes typing in STEAM about 3 - 4 times per quarter or about an hour every quarter.  This equates to 3-4 hours of typing practice over the course of a school year.  My GOAL is that these students will know the home row of keys (and type them correctly) by the end of the year.

Third, is a personal goal to be more organized.  I can organize a schedule or a calendar.  Paper organization is my biggest problem.  Students in 2nd - 4th grade are going to try my new folder system.  I will take pictures and share more as it is developed!  This will hold a keyboard for tracking progress, log in cards, STEAM journal, and it will hold all of the PAPERS that are usually floating around STEAM when a project runs longer than a class.

Welcome back to the 2019-2020 school year!  Set some goals whether you are a parent, a home schooler who follows me, or even a member of the community.  We all need some direction in life.  I know that some goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound), but this is my starting point.

HAVE A GREAT 2019-2020 school year...look for updates on our goals 

FULL STEAM AHEAD

As I prepare my first week of lessons, schedule the last minute meetings, set up new displays, etc., I am trying to be thankful for an awesome summer. 




What do we have planned this fall?

Kindergarten will be working on Tin Foil Boats and then Lakeshore Engineering Kits (Goldilocks is up 1st thanks to Donor's Choose!)

First grade is going to work on growing herbs, learning about internet safety, engineering a car, and more!

Second and third grade are going to learn about internet safety, slinky experiments, plus logging into technology.

Fourth grade is going to learn internet safety and all about electricity. 



Plus I have some new fun surprises like a STEAM pet, stick-it together mural new organization system, plus new engineering products.








What are some year long activities planned?
Container Garden contest - Carton to Garden
Mastering more robotics and electronics
Learning how to research, type, and code -
Plus there is a year long focus on SPACE (hint for the spring STEAM and art show!)

Project Fun!?!

It is  July and summer is half over!

Ha ha...I started this post a month ago.  Now August is coming to a close.  Summer is almost over, but I can say that I stretched my comfort zone.  My husband will be thankful for the end of my projects.  It was kind of like Phineas and Ferb every day.  I still think their summer adventures might be more "fun"!  My children helped as you will see below.

Look for STEAM posts soon!


Here are the top 3 that you might find of interest:

1. We cleaned out a overgrown scrappy patch to create a garden.  This was heavy and messy, but we do have a small garden growing.  Beans and tomatoes are doing best!

The "before" picture of the garden 

Just planted in June...look for a current picture soon

2. Build a bench from the blocks from the garden project.  Thanks Pinterest for ideas.

Cleaning the blocks before my 7 year old got the power washer out!

Scraping off moss, mud, and more!

Bella sealed the boards with a clear coat.

The bench!

The beautiful backyard 

3. Barn demolition - well more of a cosmetic face lift before construction begins. There is a great old horse barn that we hope to turn into a meaningful space eventually.  This was a huge project including filling an 11 yard dumpster with debris and old build material and animal feces.
We did salvage an amazing picnic table in the process.

Barn condition 

All cleaned up

Loved eating dinner, visiting family and friends here, and watching my children explore.

THE BARN

Removing old paneling and styrofoam "insulation".

The ugly ceiling that needed ripped down.

These are the sheets that were on the ceiling then covered in white tiles seen here.

The ceiling is solid, dry, and, beautiful without the ugly tiles!

Attic was next

Digging through history!

Found on 7-8-19

We can see potential now!

Mostly cleaned out

The 11 yard dumpster

Epic box burn pile