Capstone Project of the Week: Goat Promotional Video

Check out Ashlyn Tatro's 8th grade capstone project! She created a promotional video for Small Green Tech Academy to recruit new students to the program.

7th Grade Meal Project

Mr. Brooks' "What's on your plate?" class is in the process of serving up their final projects this week in the form of a 3 course tasting menu for their classmates. The students prepared a meal made from scratch with whole, balanced foods and presented it to their peers. Check out our slide show of their tasty creations below!

Bucket Race

Mr. Brooks' 6th grade "The World Outside" class was outdoors today learning about watersheds and water conservation. They discussed the ways in which they use water every day. Did you know that every flush of your toilet uses about 5 gallons of water? In order for the students to understand how much 5 gallons is, they carried a 5 gallon bucket once around the entire school with a team! It was great exercise and great fun!

Capstone Project of the Week: Grow Towers

Exciting news! For her 8th grade Green Academy capstone project, Sabella Jaroszewski seeded and maintained our school grow towers. The grow towers use aeroponics, the process of growing plants without dirt, to produce vegetables for our school cafeteria. Check out the pictures of the fruits of her labor being harvested for use in our salad bar!

Austin Oaks Church Volunteer Day

Some wonderful volunteers from Austin Oaks Church came out to work in the Small Middle School gardens on Sunday. They planted countless trees in the blink of an eye. Thank you Austin Oaks Church for your support of Green Academy!

Green Academy Trip to Whole Foods

Mr. Brooks' "What's on your plate?" class visited Whole Foods on November 2nd and 3rd to explore the store and learn more about the food choices they make. Students completed a scavenger hunt throughout the store that tested the limits of their food and nutrition knowledge. The parents, teachers, and students then settled down on the Whole Foods patio to enjoy lunch together.

Check out the slideshow below!

Mulch/Compost Pick-up Moved

Due to the rain on Friday, we have moved our mulch and compost sale to Wednesday November 4th. Come by before school (7-8 AM), after school (3:30-5:00 PM), or during the school day via appointment to pick up your orders. If you have not ordered yet, don't worry! Just swing by on November 4th and we will have some extra bags you can purchase on the spot. 

Thank you for supporting Green Tech Academy! 

There's still time to get mulch and compost!

There is still time for you to grow your garden with the help of Small Green Tech Academy. Even if you did not place a pre-order for mulch and compost you can still come to the Small MS greenhouse after school on Friday, October 30th to purchase a bag or two from 3:30-5:00 PM. 

Thanks for your support of Green Tech! 

Mulch and Compost Order Form Now Available!!!

Pre-order for the mulch and compost sale is open until October 28th!! You can order online by clicking HERE. Pick up your orders from the Small Middle School greenhouse on October 30th!

For more information click HERE or email elizabeth.grenadier@austinisd.org.

Hope to see you there!

Bag Mulch and Bulk Compost Sale!

Green Tech Academy is hosting a mulch and "bag your own" compost sale! Keep your garden healthy this fall and support your community at the same time! Pre-order is available starting October 26th through October 28th. Pre-order form coming soon! Come pick up your fantastic mulch and compost from Small Middle School on October 30th. Check out the schedule below! 

• 7:00 AM-8:00 AM - pick up available (no appointment)

• 8:00 AM-3:30 PM - Appointment needed!! (email elizabeth.grenadier@austinisd.org)

• 3:30 PM-5:00 PM - pick up available (no appointment)

Hope to see you there! 

Field Trip to Balcones Canyonlands Preserve

Green Tech Academy's 6th grade students visited Balcones Canyonlands Preserve on October 14th and 15th. They were treated to a tour of the grounds during which they practiced spotting the golden cheeked warbler and learned about how scientists track and study them. Students also assessed the quality of the local habitat for the warblers by identifying elements which they need to survive through competing in a scavenger hunt.

Finally teachers, students, and parents alike did some good old gardening work, assisting the staff of Canyonlands in preparing their new pollinator garden. After a refreshing lunch and a few  rounds of frisbee they all returned to school. 

Check out some more pictures of the trip below! 

Clint Small Middle School name one of the TOP 10 ECO-SCHOOLS in the COUNTRY!

Green Tech Academy, Clint Small Middle School, Austin, Texas

 

Clint Small Middle School's Green Tech Academy earned Texas' first Green Flag. Students created an extensive garden, planting more than 300 native plant species. The campus also has an outdoor classroom, a greenhouse, a chicken coop, composting, recycling, water-harvesting, and a Japanese garden. Twenty-five percent of the school's food is produced locally.

http://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Top-10-Eco-Schools.aspx?s_email_id=20150929_ECO_ENG_TopTenGreenestSchools|STEdu

Plant Sale FASTLY approaching! This Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday!

Here are some of the students' hard work advertising for the plant sale. They put in a lot of effort and it shows!

Here is a list of plants we usually have at the sale. They usually range from $3 for 4 inch pots to $7 for 1 gallon pots. Some more specialty plants can go between $10-$25. We may even have some trees. If there is anything you would us to try and procure, let us know!

Texas Red Bud
Mexican Plum
Fragrant Mimosa (in bloom)
Possumhaw
Yaupon Holly
Wax Myrtle
Anacacho Orchid (in bloom)
Crossvine (in bloom)
Montezuma Cypress
Monterey Oak
Red Yucca (in bloom)
Twist Leaf Yucca
Gulf Muhly
Lindheimer Muhly
Inland Sea Oats
Blue Eyed Grass (in bloom)
White Coneflower
Purple Coneflower (in bloom)
Cedar Sage
Salvia Cleavelandii
Red Columbine
Texas Betony
Chocolate Daisy
Texas Rock Rose (in bloom)
Apache Plume (in bloom)
Chili Pequin
Escarpment Cherry

TX Mountain Laurel

Spiderwort

Cedar Elm

Aloe Vera

Pinyon Pine

Shrubby Bush Sage

White Mistflower

Gregg's Mistflower

Catalpa

Evergreen Sumac

American Beautyberry

Lantana Horrida

Sabal Minor

Eve's Necklace

Mexican Plum

Monterey Oak

Lacey Oak

Desert Willow

Goldenball Leadtree

Aloe Vera

Century Plant

Possumhaw

Red Yucca

Sotol

Nolina Texana

Heartleaf Skullcap

Obedient plant

Skeletonleaf goldeneye

Prostrate Rosemary

Mexican Oregano

Salvia greggi

Remember, we are still selling potted homecoming mums. Buy in bulk, it saves $$$!!! Show your COUGAR SPIRIT!

Check out our Facebook page for order forms and other information about the Green Tech Academy.

https://www.facebook.com/Small-Green-Tech-Academy-430549237070310/timeline/

UPDATE! PLANT SALE COMING SOON! 9/24, 9/25, 9/28 and 9/29!

More information to come. Native and adapted plants will be sold! We will also sell potted mums in honor of football homecoming.

Independent Research Presentations

This was never posted. #TBT

Community Members, Family, and Friends are invited to attend the 8th grade Independent Research Project Presentations on Wednesday, May 27th, Small Middle School in room 112.

Presentations will began at 8:45am and run until 10:45am followed by an Awards Ceremony.

Student Research topics include: Native Bee Homes on Small Campus, AISD LEED Certification, Water Conservation within AISD, Chicken Tractor Design, Cobb Oven Design, Goat Camera Installation, Rain Garden Installation, Small Cafeteria Improvements, Art and the Environment, Community Garden Installation, Pollinator Gardens, Increasing Native Birds on campus, Mice Control Study on campus and many more!

Your support for our students is greatly appreciated. Hope to see you there!

Donations

We are in need of a few essential items to aid our students in their end of the year capstone projects.
Any help in obtaining these items would be greatly appreciated!

*8" wheel barrow tires and wheels (preferably rubber)  for our newly constructed chicken tractors
Non expired native plant and food seeds
Soil
Mulch

Items can be dropped off anytime at our greenhouse on campus or by contacting Nate Rosenberg at Nate.Rosenberg@austinisd.org

*Wheels were found at Harbour Freight Tools for a very reasonable price. I would recommend Harbour Freight for any home improvement project you are not looking for supplies that will last a lifetime. Also tools that may need to be replaced due to misuse by youths. Awesome place!

Earth Day!

7th Grade Green Tech Academy student, Josephine Montminy took a couple of beautiful photos to celebrate Earth Day! Enjoy and happy Earth Day from Small Green Tech Academy! 

Recently Small Green Tech Academy was awarded an award from National Wildlife Federation for our sustainability initiatives! We are the first school in Texas to achieve this award and 1 out of 40 in the nation! Our students and staff have worked very hard and we were all very excited to receive this award! The full article with details is posted below!

http://blog.nwf.org/2015/04/first-school-in-texas-to-earn-national-award-for-sustainability-initiatives/

Center for Green Schools’ K12 Education Platform Pilot

Spring Cleaning, Spring Blooms, and Spring Plant Sale 3/26-27

Each semester our school participates with the citywide Keep Austin Beautiful Clean Sweep. We clean multiple areas of school including Monterey Oaks Blvd., our nature trail and the school grounds.

Our native gardens have also started blooming this week. They will look even more amazing in the coming weeks.

Our Spring plant sale will be this Thursday and Friday March 26 and 27 from 9-4:30. We can also stay later by request. Here is a sampling of the plants  we will be receiving from Far South Nursery and Emerald Garden.

Socuty Garlic

Spiderwort

Pink Ferry Duster

Bottle Brush

Compact Orange Sage

Gopher Plant

Maiden Hair Fern

Anisacanthus Tangerine

Artemisia Silver King

Indian Mallow

Bulbine Orange

Chile Pequin

Trailing Wine cup

Dwarf Cherry Barbados

White Beautyberry

Coral Bean

Mexican Plum

Fig Tx BrnTrky

Evergreen Sumac

Smoke Tree

Kidney Wood

Wax Myrtle- Dwarf

Dogwood

Mexican Olive

Anacacho Orchid

Texas Gold Yucca

Columbeu

Black Dalea

Texas Gay feather

Kangaroo Paw

Brush Sunset

Cream spread cantana

Mexican honeysuckle

fragrant mistflower

native honeysuckle

Blue glow agave

crassula coccinea- campfire

Marginata agave

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!

The Green Academy and the Art Department have been working together to transform a barren section of the school into a piece of environmentally inspired art. Energized by the street art around Austin, students and teachers sought to produce a piece of work that would connect our diverse student interests and backgrounds. Students wanted to create a bright, vivid, simple, motivational, and "Selfie-worthy" piece of work that any could find enjoyment in,

After scouting locations on campus that would provide a large enough canvas to encapsulate the artistic vision, students worked to find the most environmentally conscience paint. Once paint was located and purchased, the long process began of taping, painting, drying and repeat.

We are very close to completing this project that began in the Fall semester of 2014. Here are the photographs of our progress so far.

Priming and sealing the porous brick 

Measuring and staking the center of the wall to allow the sun and its rays to be drawn symmetrically and easier

Penciling out our design

Penciled design

Taping over the pencil

Begin of  yellow paint application

YELLOW PAINT!

Sun?

Finishing the sun and its rays.

Clean up, clean up, everybody cleans up!

Orange background.

What's next? COMING SOON!

Posers posing for a selfie demonstration.

Adding some finishing touches, the Green Academy and Art Department finished our mural collaboration. Here is Mr. Tabares adding our street art graffiti.

Poser with added glowing accent color.

Flare

Bold font

FIN!

We are so proud of our kids and the work they do in these great Small Middle School and Austin ISD courses! If you come and take photos or share any of their work, please add the hashtag #AISDProud and #youaremysunshine. We want everyone to know how great our kids are and to showcase all their wonderful projects.

Tags added