Project Description: 

Starting in November of 2021, Union High collaborated with WMEAC and Department of Public Works Kent County to host 3 vermicompost workshops for a diverse group of 9th grade students in our Academic Strategies course. Students built several vermicompost bins for the classroom, learned about organic waste diversion from landfills, and created signage to inform and persuade their peers about the bins. Teacher Cory Sutherby, aka “The Sutherbeast” has created a Compost Rap that we plan to incorporate into the educational materials for this program each year. This year, Scholars in the Red Hawk Garden Club and other 9th graders were able to take field trips to Frederick Meijer Gardens, and the South Kent Landfill and the Kent County Recycling Center. Covanta Waste to Energy provided a presentation for our scholars at our school, and WMEAC presented with a Kahoot game. Given the gracious opportunity to expand our project, we decided to connect a project to our Biology curriculum and VR study on Sustainability resulting in the planting of 34 trees which will sequester carbon from the air, reducing the impact of climate change as well as provide fruit to future scholars. With the support of Friends of GRParks, at the end of May we are planting fruiting trees on the school property. We currently have 2 neighborhood community members who are providing their food waste towards our vermicompost and outdoor composting systems which will provide for future nutrient needs in our school garden.

Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:

In addition to field trips to Frederick Meijer Gardens, the Kent County Recycling Center, South Kent Landfill, the tree planting events, and vermicompost workshops, scholars were able to engage in local and global scale Biology lessons related to Sustainability. They are able to fully explain the role of CO2 in climate change, human’s role in producing CO2, and use academic vocabulary when describing how CO2 is stored in the trunk of a tree.

Partners:

West Michigan Environmental Action Council, Kent County Department of Public Works, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks

Teachers:

Nicole Durso, 9th Grade, Biology; McKenna DeWolf, 9th Grade, Academic Strategies; Emily Padron, 9th Grade, ASD; Christopher Weaver, 9th Grade, Academic Strategies; Kim Miller, 9th Grade, Academic Strategies

Students:

135

Funder:

The Wege Foundation

Showcase Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7nEf-LqBN4&list=PLV2DqaYFEsPwEUUHkVf4EWeARMMgZa9NL&index=23

Project Description: 

This year, Garden Club and Biology scholars were able to make connections between curriculum and the outdoors in Michigan. Scholars who had interest in the activities were invited from Shaw and Gendrikov’s classes, and school-wide invites were sent out for the field trips that we took part in this year. In addition to renting gear from Thrive Outside, partnering with the Friends of GR Parks for our tree planting event, visiting Sibley Elementary for a seed-starting event, and planting native pollinator species from the Kent Conservation District, we invited the DNR into our classes for a Zoom lesson.

Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:

Scholars will have an increased awareness in their hearts and minds of solutions to human impacts on the environment.

Partners:

Thrive Outside Gear Lending Library, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, Kent Conservation District, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Teachers:

Nicole Durso, 9th Grade Biology & 10th, 11th, & 12th Grade Informal Garden Club; Kolton Shaw, 11th & 12th Grade, Financial Literacy; Emily Gendrikovs, 10th Grade, Geometry

Students:

150

Funder:

The Baldwin Foundation

Showcase Video: (Found on YouTube page)