Our students are highly-motivated, community-minded, academic all-stars. We are a magnet school with a competitive application process and rigorous curriculum. Our school is unique in that it accepts students from all over the city, which means some commute up to 2 hours a day!
My favorite characteristic about our students is their creativity; if you have an ambitious idea that will improve the world, these students will make it happen.
Even with all their academic demands, our students understand that personal wellness and community-building are just as important to their overall success.
My Project
In April 2016, my students built a Mindfulness Trail on our campus. Having now worked through 3 seasons, students have learned all the ways the trail changes in accordance with weather and pollination patterns. This experience has prepared them for what to expect this coming year.
My students' work on this project has brought to life an important lesson: instead of fighting nature, learn to work with what it gives you.
Central Texas summers are notoriously hot and unpredictable; scorching heat without rain for weeks, only to be interrupted by bouts of heavy rain and flooding. Summer is also the time my students travel, take summer courses, have jobs and internships, and frequently take road trips to the nearest swimming hole.
This all amounts to decreased time normally dedicated to this project, and increased growth of invasive species on our trail. In advance of the coming summer, my students have consulted with foresters and master naturalists in order to learn how to better prepare for dealing with the consequences of summer's natural inclinations.
Enter: solarization and composting. By weeding, composting, and laying down thick plastic tarps, my students will learn to embrace the power of the hot Texas sun to encourage a process that will suffocate growth of invasive plants and instead turn them into a rich mulch. Solarization will decrease the rehab time spent at the beginning of the school year, leaving more time for the next phase of improvements during planting season.
My students also need a shed to store their supplies at the trail. Currently, it takes my students about 20-30 minutes to get supplies from a small closet in the basement of our athletics wing out to the trail. This is precious time that could otherwise be spent working on a project that gives them great pride.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Rivera and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
