THE GIST
Students, especially those in urban schools, spend very little time learning in the outdoors.  When they do, it is often via a field trip to a far-away location that requires travel by bus. The time and cost of transport for nature exploration adds up over time, while perpetuating the belief the nature is only found in far-away places.  The goal with Schoolyard Habitats is to bring needed nature to the school by creating wild sites as a place for outdoor learning, observation, and exploration. A habitat can be thought of as a community for animals. As diversity is a key component of building a strong community, biological diversity (biodiversity) is the key component of creating a thriving habitat. 

We have attained another grant to assist teachers in utilizing the Wild Site/Habitat for outdoor learning,  beginning when school resumes in August 2020. The outdoor curriculum will be rooted in observation and inquiry and designed to meet or exceed state standards in Math, Art, Science, and Language Arts through correlation with existing classroom activities. In addition, we have partnerships in place to provide a stipend to students ad/or community members to water the emerging habitats over the summer months. 

If you are able to donate plants from our list, please send an email to John M.  with the name and quantity of plants you can donate. Thank you!

Here is a list of desired plants with additional details including Scientific Names > 

BACKGROUND INFO

This Schoolyard Habitat  project is an outgrowth of an annual educators convening, established in November of 2019, called the Great Lake Erie Educators Exchange.  GLEEE is focused on attracting urban and first ring teachers to assist and inspire them to connect with the majestic ecology of the Great Lake Erie bioregion. The inaugural GLEEE took place over two days and two nights in early November at the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center and was attended by 30 classroom teachers of which 20 were from urban and first ring districts, including 11 from CMSD. Educators were immersed in the outdoors for 15 workshops presented by 25 local conservation and nature education experts during outdoor conditions of wind, rain, and snow. The motto that emerged post confernce was "There is no bad weather only bad clothing choices". While the focus was on outdoor immersion, GLEEE featured some indoor time for shared meals, keynotes + art and socials around a fire. Educators were thrilled to network with educators outside their districts as well as area experts. 

Five teachers who attended GLEEE in November 2019 comprise the group who are creating schoolyard habitats. These teachers represent 4 CMSD schools (Willson, Campus International HS, Orchard STEM, and William Rainey Harper) plus a rural school in Lake County, Perry Elementary. GLEEE will assist these teachers over a period of 12-16 weeks, starting in August 2020, to transition one lesson per week into the outdoors. This minimum threshold is based on recent research from Swansea University in England which reveals that just an hour of outdoor learning per week results in improved feelings of freedom and wellbeing for students and improved job satisfaction for teachers. Further, the one hour per week threshold presents an amount of time for teachers that is relatively easily attainable, especially given that they will be assisted by staff from Great Lake Erie Educators Exchange. 

The Schoolyard Habitats  will provide a platform for outdoor learning that focuses on direct observation as a means to develop and nurture curiosity as an entry point to the scientific activity model for inquiry-based education.  We plan to expand this project to more Cleveland Schools each year, following GLEEE 2020, and we foresee an opportunity for the native pollinators plants that establish in these five school gardens to be used to seed more school gardens in the future. The gift of community keeps on giving!

We greatly appreciate the help of amateur and professional gardeners and gardening orgs to foster a community that nurtures the development and capacity of flora, fauna, and humans to heal our world.