Ponderings

 I am but a simple minded Old Fool.

Amazed by the Redbud, Mexican Plum, and Mountain Laurel.

Grackles accuse with their stares.

The Martins have come home to roost.

Green Academy Instagram!

Please visit the Green Academy Instagram if you haven't already. @insmallgardens

Our blog posts have noticeably slowed and decreased. I have always hoped that students would take over a majority of the posts, but I am not organized enough to delegate. We will still post occasionally, but most of our updates will be to parents and through Instagram. Thanks for everything! 

The Uncommon Green Leaf: The Green Academy Newsletter Vol. 3 #1 !!Fall Market Days Information!!

 Hello All!

It appears this Newsletter and their appearances on the blog have become even more sporadic and intermittent. Hopefully they will become even more extra-ordinary, odd, peculiar, and exceptional!

Over the Summer, our wonderful Teaching Assistant/Professor/Mr. Bright-Side, Mr. Justin Fyffe, accepted a position with the Science Mill. He is working in their Aquaponics Greenhouse. He and his wife, Amber, are starting a new chapter in Johnson City and we wish them the best!

Justin was in charge of our Social Media and Outreach. His absence will be missed, but it also resulted in our Instagram and the In Small Garden Blog being even more rare and irregular.

Our hope is that when we are able to post on the Blog and on Instagram, it will be a place to feature students' written work and their accomplishments in the gardens. 

On to the NEWSLETTER!

This semester started out just like the way each school year seems to. The halls were full, students were loud and excited, and they were masked. It truly feels like a different school year, after Remote Learning and such a small in school population at school last year, but at the same time it was just like always. This student, like many others, got his first chance to interact directly with nature. This was the first time he ever help a chicken. He was so excited he asked me to take this photo so he can show his Mom!

Students began work in the gardens maintaining and removing the overgrowth from our time at home during Remote Learning and the Summertime Break. The excessive growth, mostly from our Summer Sunflower Fields, was chopped and used to begin the process of making compost. Mr. Brooks repurposed some cinderblocks, and began a more permanent area for Compost growth.

Mr. Brooks' classes continued their work on cultivating, enriching, and upgrading the Food Forest on the Northside.

Mr. Jeansonne's students have taken over the work on the remaining food gardens on the Northside. The Sunshine Garden has been completely overhauled and renewed. The former Meditation Labyrinth and Medicine Wheel have been repurposed into Berms and Swales for more food beds. Mr. Jeansonne's students also removed old benches. The wood was repurposed into more useful picnic tables. The whole area will become a more usable true outdoor classroom.

Mr. Rosenberg's classes have been limbing up trees, removing dead trees from the Snow-mageddon. This work has allowed all students to be able to eat outdoors in our Gardens for the first time! Students and Teachers can now use this space to also study and have classes outdoors. Through previous work by the Green Academy, donations from Double Dave's, and from the School District, our front courtyard and Backyard are full of a multitude of various tables and chairs. 

Our former All Star educator, Ms. Maia Chambers, has been volunteering her free time back to Small and to the students. Due to her amazing assistance and tutelage we got our first harvest of honey from our bees! Our Bees were also moved from the front Flood Drainage Pond to a district built fenced area near our Prairie and the Disc Golf Course around the Football Field.

The new HEB in Oak Hill, came out for a volunteer day. Students worked with Employees, Department Heads, and Managers to create Seed Balls, Compost Tea, and to plant donated Trees.

The Trees were donated by Apache. We were able to receive 50 native trees that were placed as an addition to the Green Academy Urban Forest! The Trees were able to be used to replaced vandalized and killed Memorial Trees. One of the hardest parts of working at a community space is witnessing some of the inappropriate acts that happen on our school grounds when no one is here. We will continue to urge for a culture of stewardship for our

LinkedIn:          @ApacheCorporation

Facebook:        @ApacheCorporation

Instagram:       @apachecorporation

Twitter:             @APA_Corp

Web:                  www.apacorp.com

Our Greenhouse is getting a facelift. More on that to come in future announcements!

The OG Garden is doing well. It had needed a lot of pruning and cleaning. The paths are able to be roamed. Students are catching baby spiny lizards on a daily basis. Leopard Frogs abound in our in ground cattle trough ponds..

One of my favorite observations this year was made by Mr. Jeansonne regarding our many native gardens and pollinator gardens. Some have been made for sheer utility, like We needing a place to catch excessive runoff. We built a berm and swale. It just so happened to make an amazing native habitat. Mr. Jeansonne noticed that right when our Kidneywood stopped flowering, the bees needed some other beautifully fragrant flower to swarm. The Goldenrod began flowering concurrently. These types of relationships exist all over the gardens. 

FINALLY!

The Green Academy will once again be holding the Fall Market Days Sale! Market Days will be held in the Front Courtyard, near the Front Office, on December 6-10. It will be from 4-5pm, or later by appointment. 

Students will once again be making nature related products. In years past we have made soap, candles, jewelry, bat houses, bird houses, and planters. This year students will make other products as well, including sticker, benches, swings, as well as many personal care items.

 

Speak with your students if you would like them involved in participating and making items. Made products will be donated to the Green Academy. Donated items will be compensated with replaced assignment grades. 

Please come out and support the Green Academy!

The Green Leaf February Edition

 The Green Leaf February Addition, Vol. 2, #1

Green Academy Newsletter 2.8.21

Hello Community!

A year ago, I wrote my first installment of the Green Leaf, the Green Academy Newsletter. Little did I know how much would change and how a monthly newsletter would soon become a single entry for an entire year.

We have a new faculty member! Jack Jeansonne is our new Green Academy educator. He replaced Maia Chambers. Maia left to assist her husband in his Realty business. 

Jack is an amazing educator. He taught 8th grade science last year here at Small. We pulled him over because we feel he fits in with us perfectly! He already has a vast knowledge of native plants and animals. He has multiple snakes in his classroom. He has even bred them in the past! He is very handy. Jack sponsors the Dungeons and Dragons club and the newspaper club. He coaches boys Soccer. He has an art degree and is regularly making art, building frames, and building models by hand. Jack has jumped in with both feet and is already taking students out daily and has started installation on a Milkweed garden. We are happy to have him as an addition!

Spring is usually a busy time of the year. This year everything seems to just be calm outside. Nature is doing what it does. It feels weird but feels right. We are maintaining, but in small groups. We are installing, but only on a finite scale.

We did work on some projects already this year. Through community support and the Living Tree Crowdfunding program we were able to build an outdoor learning space with room for up to 40 (non-social distanced however.) It includes picnic tables and the supports for sunshades. 

A new mural was finished on the second floor welcoming all to “Cougar Country” and featuring some iconic imagery. 

We built an outdoor sitting space on our nature trail. We attempted to not use nails and screws but vandals made it to where we had no choice. We removed some over grown trees that were damaging older Oaks, many invasives, and then harvested cedar for most of the seating.

Like I said, projects are small and more personal, but sometimes that’s just the way it needs to feel to make those better connections.

We are still in the process of finishing our Firewise Garden. We need to install the signage and continue to care for the trees and plants in the area.

Due to the structure of the Green Academy, we are always working to find ways to fund our projects and innovations. Austin ISD and Small MS have always been supportive of our program. However, beyond our salaries the district and the school provide little to no funding to our program. 

We are in a constant need of funding. We have 4 educators that have amazing ideas and plans. We are unceasingly searching and applying for grants opportunities. Many other schools are now moving into Environmental education. This is wonderful for the field, but makes it much harder to find a steady source of funds.

Student Lab Fees are used to support small projects and replace basic resources. 

For the life of the Academy we have had a biannual plant sale. Our last sale was on March 12 and 13, just before we all quarantined. We have continued to hope school would go back to something more traditional, sadly we haven’t. 

This year we are going to try and have another Market Day. Ms. Chambers had students create handmade products to be sold to the community. Students created products like paper embedded with wildflowers, candles, bat boxes, etc. We plan on allowing students to complete this project again, as a chance to replace assignments. 

Students and Faculty at school have been working hard to create all natural soap. We have branded it “Clint’s Small Batch Handmade Soaps”. The link to the order form is below. We used a standard natural formula consisting of olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil and lye. In a few bars we added goat’s milk. The additions to each batch changed including sea salt, oatmeal, charcoal, herbs, citrus peel, and various essential oils.

The all natural handmade soap will be available the week of March 8. It will be available for pick-up, sent home with students, or available to be shipped for a small fee.

https://forms.gle/LxaxAC7AKAYvFJ6R9 

Funding will obviously go towards funding staff and student projects. To help assist in all of our projects, we are also beginning to set aside funding for a Green Academy trailer. Since we do not have a truck, the next best thing will be a trailer for transporting animals, plants, and supplies from hardware stores. If you would like to help more specifically with this project please contact me regarding donations. nate.rosenberg@austinisd.org 

Please remember to support all of our campus programs. Also please visit our Small Gardens blog, www.insmallgardens.blogspot.com, and our Instagram account, @insmallgardens.

Thank you!

Gang Green

Animal Eyes

I am a fire ant and I have lost my colony I scurry around frantically trying to find them. My colony depends on each and every ant to do their job and serve their queen. I have to get back! I head in a bush where I often search for food but nobody is there. All of the sudden I spot a human!  This human could be a danger to my colony. A sense of duty overwhelms I sting its leg repeatedly but to no avail, it is too big, I crawl up to its strange ginormous arms and sting it there, I have finally triggered a response from the human, it screams and shakes me off.  Another human who I did not see at first laughs at the other human. This human is bigger and has longer hair, it is sitting in the bushes with a journal. All of the sudden I find my anthill I am eager to get home. I run along the concrete river and I see a large dent in the shape of human foot on my home I run inside to salvage any of my friends and coworkers that have survived, the damage is massive, I wonder why humans choose to cause so much destruction and I get to work...

 
Squirrel by Charlotte Sigler

I am a squirrel. I’m trying to eat from this bird feeder but these tiny birds keep dive-bombing me. It doesn’t help that two large humans are watching me. But I’ve seen them here before. They put out this delicious seed and always refill the water. I see them a lot, sometimes outside sitting and watching me, or from inside their house. Lot’s of other people come to eat the delicious seed too. The little birds that live inside a house in the tree above where I’m trying to eat, keep dive-bombing me and chasing me up and down the fence. I’m not even doing anything wrong! At this point, I’m in a completely different tree and they're  STILL going after me, this is an outrage!

Squirrel By: Kristin Thompson 

Spring has Sprung 

Hibernation is done 

The hunt for nuts has begun 

I live in a hole 

I live in a burrow

 I live in a lair 

I don’t care what you call it I call it home 

Most people think it would be easy to be a squirrel 

Most people are wrong 

Spring has Sprung 

Hibernation is done

 The hunt for nuts has begun

 After a while I have a good stash 

But then another squirrel does snatch 

The majority of my snacks

 Nuts and berries

 Berries and nuts 

Night did fall

 The sun is gone

 Then an idea comes along 

Spring has Sprung

 Hibernation is done

 The hunt for nuts has begun

 I have no ability to fly

 So footsteps must be kept quiet

 The only sounds heard Are the chirping of night birds 

And the dancing of the trees in the night

 I creep past a few houses

 And the third house I pass Is the location of the thief 

The thief will feel my wrath

 I grab some nuts And Run 

Spring has Sprung

 Hibernation is done 

The hunt for nuts has begun

 I return home

 My stomach is full

 I smile and think

 I’m such a sneaky squirrel!

 by Heath Smith

I am a bird sitting on a fence, wondering why is the world so harsh? I know the answer, everyone knows the answer. Life is so harsh because it has to when it's most inconvenient. for example I am a bird as you know and and because of the pandemic no one is putting food in there bird feeder so I have to hunt. hunting is hard because even though I know it's the cycle of life it's kind of sad having to eat worms and bugs. If I want to eat I have to be stealthy and sneak up behind bugs or worms and distract them and then I'll eat them. Today Is sinco de mayo so People will be having food out. And there will be water out and sodas and burgers to eat so being a bird is pretty easy right now. There will also be people so I will have to sneak up to get the food. I hope that I'm not caught trying to eat and drink some of the food because some people might try to hurt me because they are mean. And I REALLY hope I don't run into any cats that would be horrible.

Fire Ant by Clara Mirkin

Allegiance to Gratitude

Allegiance To Gratitude

By Kira Rice And Ryder Armstrong

Today, we are grateful for all of life. We recognize that, as people, it is not our job to try to control life, but to live amongst it in harmony. 

The Earth

We would like to thank the Earth, which gives us a home. We would also like to apologize to the Earth. For she has done so much for us, and we have done so little for her. Please know our thanks come with great remorse and regret, for we have hurt the Earth more than we ever should have. 

The Waters

We would like to thank the Water for allowing life to carry on. We thank the water for quenching all our thirst. We apologize to the water as well, to say sorry for polluting his currents. We now acknowledge that we have caused the water a much greater pain than he has ever deserved.

The Marine Life

We would like to thank the marine life for continuing to live on. To them, we also apologize. We apologize for over fishing, and for destroying their habitats. We regret hurting all of the majestic species of the waters.

 

The Plants

We would like to thank the plants, they give themselves as food. They heal our injuries and illnesses. We would like to apologize to them as well, for destroying the forests. Please know we are trying to resurrect the great wild forests, jungles, swamps, and grasslands.

The Animals

We thank the animals too, but to them, we cannot apologize enough. We apologize for hurting them. We apologize for destroying their habitats. We apologize for over hunting them. Most of all, we would like to apologize for causing the sixth mass extinction. Please know we are deeply sorry.

The Air

We are thankful for the air we breathe. We thank the air for all the cool breezes on hot summer days. We know that without the air, life would not be possible. Our thanks comes with an apology too. We are profoundly sorry for ruining your peace through pollution.

The Rain

We thank the rain for filling the lakes, cleansing the waters, and bringing water from sky to earth. We are sorry for turning you into an enemy of nature by forcing you to bring acid upon the earth.

The Sun

We thank the sun for bringing us warmth each day, for you are never too lazy to rise, and never sleep in. We thank the sun for never taking a sick day, for rising and setting every day without fail.  Without the sun, no life would be here today. You give nutrients to life, and you give us all a reason to wake up every morning. There’s a reason that it is you at the center of every solar system. We thank the sun for providing us with clean energy. We thank the sun for using his gravity to keep our solar system together.

The Teachers 

We now thank the Teachers who have been there to educate the young so they could do more and be more. We also thank them for giving us knowledge. Not only knowledge of maths and science but, but knowledge of sharing and respect. We thank them now, more than ever, for working extra hard. We apologize for not being more grateful to you, Teachers.

The Doctors

We now feel a great sense of gratitude towards our doctors who are risking their lives everyday as they go to work. They have always been important to our community, but now they are our heroes. Everyday they step into a battlefield against an invisible enemy, more courageous than any troops.

Goodbye

We know that these words can never possibly make up for all the wrong our species has done. We acknowledge that we probably have not thanked everything, but we have tried our best. If we have left out anything, we would like to thank them now. We are tremendously sorry for all that the human species has done to hurt the beautiful Earth. We give one more thanks, a thanks for the natural world for forgiving us, even when what we have done to you is unforgivable. We give a great thanks to the natural world around us, and hope you know that we are trying to help.

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY 50!

You may not know this but the U.S. Government has only been legally governing the protection our environment for around 50 years!

The Environmental Protection Act (1970), the Environmental Protection Agency (1970), Endangered Species Act (1973) and Earth Day have only been around since the 1970's.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of Earth Day.










What are you doing to celebrate? How are you working to make the world better? How can you reduce your impact on the environment and the world around you?

There are many sites dedicated to ways in which students and families can do their part. Please also remember Earth Day doesn't have to be recognized on one day. EARTH DAY IS EVERYDAY.

Please visit the Sierra Club to see how you can take you part. They are providing videos, tips, and activities. Keep Austin Beautiful also has local ideas for Earth Day At Home.

Wildflower Center confirms a new Owlet!

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a magical place! Located in Southwest Austin very near to the Clint Small, The Wildflower Center has been a resource for teachers and students alike. The 7th Grade Green Students usually visit in the Spring and get a chance to explore their native trails, water education programs, cave ecosystems and the propagation greenhouses. Teachers are able to visit for various educational trainings.

Over the past decade, the Wildflower Center has had a nesting Horned Owl directly above their entry arch. It is always exciting to see Athena, the nesting owl, return to her perch, especially when a little one is there to greet guests as well. There is always a crowd excitedly pointing and taking pictures.

Please take the time to visit their site for educational materials and information about their amazing research.

Hopefully we can all visit in person very soon!

More Student Photos

Merely a bird in a field of words

Many sounds from all around

my kin chirping, the city bustling 

yet only one boy stops to listen.

I see bird's flapping, chirping and singing 

I hear my vents buzzing yet I can still hear nature

I see the leaves on a tree dancing from the wind

I can feel the cold weather yet I'm as warm as pie

I can see a toddler laughing and playing 

I can smell the fresh air that's not so common anymore 

I could hear no thoughts coming out of my mind

I could hear no cars making load noises

I could feel my mind at rest.

Amazing Student Photo Submission!

During our Distance Learning, students in the Native Plants and Animals class were asked to make observations of birds around their home. These observations did not need to be academic or for identification purposes. They were just to see what they could see and hear. Maybe to even make guesses as to why what they were observing was occurring. The goal was to make a connection with nature in a place they may not always think of as being wild and natural.

Here is one of the submissions. I was truly blown away!

 I hope we continue to have students making connections and producing beautiful work!

Student Sit-Spot Excerpts

"I am a blade of grass. I stand with many others like me , but I still feel lonely. I watch all the other insects fly by. I wonder if they feel lonely too, they  seem to fly and migrate all together. But are we similar then we seem? I wish I could turn into a human and have a real conversation or relationship. Maybe I could turn into a bird and fly far away and if I needed something I could just let out a pretty little song. While I’m deep in my thoughts I heard a rustle from the bushes. Could this be the thing that kills me?! Fear fills my head like a river flowing into the sea. But, alas it's just the wind. I go back to my daydreams but deep down I know I will only be a lonely blade of grass."

"I am a tree. I am a tall oak tree. I am tall and powerful and i can feel the breeze as the wind gently blows on my trunk, my leaves are green and smell so sweet. Fall is approaching, my leaves will change… my leaves will fall. it is spring and my leaves are bright, filled with color, it's easy to see the light. They will change, time will tell. People waste their time, cutting down other trees and such. I am a lucky tree. I have not been chopped down. Though i am only a tree. I cannot do much about it when I see my brothers and sisters being chopped down and killed. As people walk by, I can hear them chatter. A small girl, no older than 12, came up and sat on one of my branches. She is sitting there, quietly, no movement. I hear her rustling on my branch trying to get comfortable, though its difficult to do such a task with such a hard chair to sit on. More children walk past. They say hello to the girl with a cheerful voice. Then they continue to walk along my trail. My trail is next to a quiet apartment complex. Nothing much ever goes on there. On the other side of my trail, however, you will find two schools, one with younger children who can barely walk. And the other with older children. The older kids are the ones who visit my trail. They only come every once in a while, but when they do come it is always a wonderful experience for us. The girl has left, our visiting time is done. I'll see you next time, but for now, i bid you farewell."

"There I was sitting in the grass when it happened. The very ground seemed to be imploding in on itself as quickly as it started. It stopped taking hundreds of people with it, but I'm getting too far ahead of myself . I'm Zachary... and this is how the world ends....So there I was sitting there then it happened just like R.E.M predicted."

"Another human passed by me today, they didn't even notice me, I will be forever lonely. One of the many humans that came into my trail today sat right next to me. They are silent. I hear the sad emptiness of crickets, I hear dogs far away mourning for something to do. I see tiny little insects crawl around and over me. Me a lonely little stone. I see birds flying around in couples singing and dancing gracefully in the air like angels. I smell the blossoming flowers of soon to come spring. I see the damp earth after rain storms. I see and feel the untamed wind pushing anything in its way aside like it is some kind royal figure. I smell the brisk air of the soon to end winter."

"I saw the dark green leaves rustling in the light wind.  The birds were singing in the fantastic weather.  You could smell the grass and trees.  It was a sunny day but I was shaded by the tall trees.  It was so calm and peaceful you could just fall into nature.  I saw a spiky plant lying on the ground.  I saw little white ball attached to leaves on the soft ground.  I saw puffy white clouds floating above my head.  I saw so many different shades of green in the trees and in my surroundings.  It made me feel relaxed and connected with nature.  I got to connect with my surroundings instead of worrying about the crazy things in my every day life."