Attendees gather around chimney court at Evergreen Brick Works
(Photo: Mike Derblich)
On November 12-13th, Learning Grounds welcomed a keen group of landscape architects, teachers, outdoor educators, and programmers from all over the world to Evergreen Brick Works to join the team of Learning Grounds Consultants and staff. It was the second annual All Hands in the Dirt forum on the design and programming of children’s outdoor spaces.
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Sandy di Felice, Director of External Affairs at Toyota Canada (left) receives a worm from Cam Collyer, Program Director at Evergreen while Paul Shaw, Dealer Principal at Ken Shaw Toyota dealership (background) looks on. (Photo: Sarah Deller)
This year marks a milestone in the partnership between Evergreen and Toyota Canada. Together, we created the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program over a decade ago and have since been providing funding and support to Canadian schools for their school ground greening initiatives.
From the beginning of the partnership, we have awarded $2,070,090 in grants to over 2,200 schools and have had a direct impact on almost 900,000 students across the country. This work would not have been possible without the support of Toyota Canada and its numerous dealerships. Thank you.
To commemorate this important anniversary, Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds will soon be unveiling a special logo that will be used over the next year. The logo will serve as a reminder of the strong partnership that Evergreen has created with Toyota Canada.
Evergreen is happy to celebrate this important partnership and we look forward to the continued success of the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program. Stay tuned for more exciting details on other ways we will be celebrating this and the upcoming 20th anniversary of Evergreen!
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Strengthening children’s connection to nature is a vital part of Evergreen’s mission. As one ten-year old boy from Regent Park stated, when leaving Evergreen Brick Works by schoolbus, “I have no outside at my house.” Within 3 km of Evergreen Brick Works in downtown Toronto, there are 10,000 children without any “outside” at their homes.
Walking through the trails at Evergreen's Green City Adventure Camp (Photo: Mike Derblich)
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Edmonton participants creating a "Land Art" installation by outlining their shadows with leaves. (Photo: Claudia Bolli)
“I realized that most of the [school] day could be spent outdoors with students doing various curriculum strands …and enjoying them!” This was the glowing feedback from a participant at our recent teacher-training summer institute in Edmonton. Exactly what we were hoping to hear.
At the Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom summer institute we show teachers how to weave environmental education into their provincial curriculum. This helps not only the students who will benefit from experiential outdoor activities, but inspires the teachers as well. Another Edmonton teacher noted, “I’ve made pages and pages of connections for my class, my school Eco Kids Club, my school, my family, my life.”
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Students using their outdoor classroom at Cassandra PS, Toronto. (Photo: Cam Collyer)
With summer almost behind us (*sniff*) and September fast approaching, let’s look to the school year ahead. Have you been giving some thought to your school ground? Does it need a little green?
The Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds grant applications are now available online and will be accepted starting September 7. We are excited to say that we have been offering this program with Toyota’s support for over a decade! Since 2000, the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program has distributed $2.1 million to over 1,700 schools across Canada. In 2009/2010 alone, we awarded $260,000 in grants to 158 schools.
Join the hundreds of schools across Canada who have taken part in this program and start filling out your application today!
For more information on deadlines, eligibility and to access your application, click here.
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Pathways weave through Westwood's school ground. (Photo: Diane Sales)
Meandering pathways can bring a welcoming dimension to a green space. They can provide access to nooks and crannies that you may not otherwise notice–a secret haven! But designing these features can be a daunting task. Where should they go? What type of materials should be used? Do we really need pathways? In this post we will attempt to give you the answers, ideas and detailed instructions to help you on your way.
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Corn plants and shade trees are just part of Belgravia's Outdoor Classroom project. (Photo: Kathy Goble)
It’s one thing to start an Outdoor Classroom project, but how do you make it last? Here in the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program, we sometimes hear from school teachers or parents who want to green their school grounds, but feel that once they or their kids leave the school, the maintenance and care required to keep the outdoor classroom growing will go with them.
Read the rest of this entry »
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How does your garden grow? (Photo: Evergreen)
Creating a school ground garden is no walk in the park. Here in in Evergreen’s Learning Grounds program we are inspired by ways that students take it upon themselves to overcome obstacles and green their grounds. In the case of one Vancouver school, determination and an inspiring student-made video had the power to change board policy and bring a veggie garden to life.
Prince of Wales School in Vancouver hit a roadblock in their garden project when they learned about a Vancouver School Board (VSB) policy that required the school to construct a chain-link fence around their small vegetable garden. The cost: thousands of dollars. The garden budget: $300. Having to build a fence became an huge barrier.
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Climbing poles are a big hit for kids in Berlin! (Photo: Margaret MacKenzie)
When Learning Grounds Consultant, Margaret MacKenzie took part in a European school grounds study tour last June, she noticed something different in school ground greening design that she had not yet seen in Canada. Climbing poles!
“The children were absolutely attracted to them. As soon as the recess bell rang, the children ran over to the poles and within seconds were sitting on top. I think it is a pretty common desire among children to want to climb–and since it is often forbidden to climb trees in a school ground (in Germany this is mainly because they want to protect the trees), these poles provide the same sort of experience, ” says Margaret.
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Posted by Sarah from Learning Grounds
Beautiful blooms and liver-shaped leaves. (Photos L–R: Linda Read, Alex Hume)
Get set for spring by brushing up on your native plant knowledge!
Introducing Anemone acutiloba (formerly Hepatica nobilis var. acuta). This showy woodland wildflower is a great addition to the urban garden and produces white/cream or pink flowers when it blooms in the spring. It gets its liver leaf name because the shape of the leaves resemble a mammalian liver. It does not cure liver ailments as some early herbalogists thought!
You can find this member of the buttercup family in woodland habitats in Quebec and Ontario in normal to moist soil conditions.
For more information about this and other native species, check out Evergreen’s online Native Plant Database.
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Posted by Sarah from Learning Grounds
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