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Community Corner

Sustainability Taking Root at Chesnut Charter

School's new Ecology Club commits to healthy habits and becomes the Chesnut Changers

 Chesnut’s changing. The children have spoken.

Last Wednesday at Chesnut Charter Elementary School, 28 children from kindergarten to grade 5 met after school in Christen Ramo’s third grade class for the kickoff meeting of the Ecology Club. Because Ecology Club was only meant to be a temporary name, one of the main orders of business was to vote on a new name for the group.

Ramo asked for nominations for the new name, and little hands shot up across the room with 13 suggestions. Earthy Worthy, shouted one child. Green Marines, called out another. Helping Plants Grow, offered a third.

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But, the clear winner with nine votes was Chesnut Changing. That makes it official, Ramo told the children, you are the Chesnut Changers.

These little voices are part of a chorus calling for change in how schools across Dunwoody use sustainability as one of the teaching tools not just for health and science but also for math, history and other parts of the curriculum.

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The Chesnut Changers even wrote a seven-point pledge of changes they will make in their school and community. Their pledge includes promises to:

  • Reduce, recycle, re-use
  • Learn and share healthy eating habits
  • Announce what they are doing in the gardens

To share their message of change with the student body, the Chesnut Changers devised a six-point advertising campaign of their activities. Some of the ways they will promote their efforts will be through:

  • Posters
  • A cheer/song
  • Blog posts on the school’s website

The blogs will be written by a team of students who volunteered to be reporters. Ramo asked for four volunteers. She got seven. All will get their chance on a rotating basis.

The October reporters are Jack Bellus, Miyah Jones, Emma Davis and Shay Martin. The November reporters are Joseph McCloskey, Gracie McClure and Harrison Thomas.

One of the more animated moments of the meeting occurred when Ramo led the students in a discussion about the advantages of eating locally grown food. The fresher food is, the sooner you eat it after picking it, the more nutrients it has, Ramo said. As an example of how food that travels long distances can spoil, she said she bought some asparagus that wasn’t grown in Georgia and it spoiled before she could cook it.

To help the children understand her point about how food can go bad, Ramo showed a time-lapse video of what happens to a partially eaten apple that is left out in the open. The video – which showed the apple gradually turning black and moldy and was greeted with shrieks of “yucky” – was especially effective because many of the children brought Granny Smith apples to the meeting. Granny Smiths are this month’s Farm to School (F2S) item of the month.

The children aren’t the only ones excited about their new club.

A recent survey of parents to determine their passion for such things as organic gardening and environmental issues showed that the almost-unanimous favorites were for going outside for hands-on math and science and growing and trying new fruits and vegetables.

The survey also found that parents would be willing to integrate supporting practices at home. The survey was conducted by parent sponsors Angela Renals and Elizabeth Davis.

They are working with the Charter Council -- which consists of teachers, administrators and parent representatives – to work out funding for the organic gardening and other environmental activities at the school that the Chesnut Changers will be participating in.

Renals and Davis are encouraging the entire school community to support the changes at Chesnut. They say the community can do that by participating in weekend Clean & Beautiful (the grounds-keeping committee) events, supporting their children in school-day activities such as the Local Produce of the Month and by subscribing to the Chesnut Changers’ blog at http://chesnutforchange.wordpress.com/.

 

In other gardening news …

 

The Spalding Garden Club’s fall fundraiser at the Kingsley Swim and Racquet Club last Wednesday was a huge success, according to Carole McWilliams, one of the event organizers.

When one visitor arrived about noon, McWilliams greeted him by saying “it was a good thing you weren’t here when we opened at 10 a.m. It looked like Filene’s Basement on wedding day!”

The event included a plant sale featuring fall annuals, perennials and connoisseur bulbs plus a garden boutique with seasonal wreaths, French scarecrows, birdhouses and a wide variety of garden accents as well as a bake sale.

There was also a book signing by Dunwoody gardener Althea Griffin. She wrote and recently published a book titled Perennials … What you need to know! Tips and Advice to Grow Tried and True Perennials.

 

Malachi’s Storehouse included the Community Garden among the Dunwoody groups it saluted at its 20th anniversary celebration Sunday at Saint Patrick’s Episcopal Church on North Peachtree Road.

An all-volunteer outreach ministry of Saint Patrick’s, Malachi’s Storehouse provides emergency food every Wednesday to low-income families in Dunwoody. The Community Garden has donated more than a ton of food, much of it grown organically across the street in Brook Run Park, to Malachi’s this year. Kathy Malcolm-Hall and Mary Louise Wilson of Malachi’s presented Pattie Baker, who led the movement that founded the Community Garden, with a certificate of appreciation.

As a way of saying thank you to the Community Garden and other support groups, Malachi’s invited the entire community to an Oktoberfest at Saint Patrick’s on Sunday.

The festivities began with a morning celebration of Malachi’s history and operations in the sanctuary with a Holy Eucharist. Then a lunch featuring burgers, brats and trimmings was served on the back lawn to about 400 people.

Under beautifully clear skies and mild fall temperatures, families enjoyed a variety of games, activities and singing by the Atlanta Saengerkreis, a non-profit performance and social group dedicated to preserving the spirit of the German culture and its history through folk songs.

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