The cost of gardening tools is $229, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a life time.” That is our Ecology Club's motto. Its members are composed of 19 students ranging from four years old to ten years of age. There are five adult sponsors, a retired NASA volunteer, a teacher aide, a living assistance teacher, and me, a science teacher.
Our goal is to integrate science and math into real life living situations. We are teaming up to show city children that foods are not made at the store, and it's important to respect all living creatures. We are planting a garden, discovering bugs, and writing a step-by-step book of our adventure into real life ecology. On the very first day we started our vegetable garden, we learned two very important lessons. One, spiders are important to a garden because they will eat bugs that otherwise would eat our plants. So, we will not kill them. Second, gardening is really hard work without the proper tools. So on behalf of our club, were asking for several sets of child-size gardening tools. With those tools our bubbling ecologist will dig, hoe, and prepare the earth for growing their first crop of vegetables. Then it's on to a butterfly garden.
Our school is surrounded by concrete. Most of the children are being raised by grandparents for various social reasons. This project is design to reconnect the children to our planet, and instill in them the value of appreciating other animals much smaller than themselves. During our first outdoor meeting, not one child complained that the work was too hard, too dirty, or too hot. Using their hands and an old hoe donated by one of the teachers, they eagerly pulled grass, tried to turn over the earth, and held an earthworm in their hands for the first time in their lives. With so many adult volunteers, the children didn't have to compete for special attention. As I watched the living assistant teacher hold the bottom of the hoe while a smiling little Pre-K child held the upper part and turn over the dirt, I knew we were on to something special. More than vegetables will grow out of this experience.
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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 Mrs. Cave and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.