The Blooms and Buzz day was a huge success. The 2nd grade's duck hatching went great most of the ducklings came out with nothing wrong. We also had lemonade ( eco-friendly ). Then after school, we had many fun activities including building and racing a solar powered toy car, snacks, a rabbit, there was a recycling throw game, a cook out over a bonfire and hung out with friends. We also built a garden and planted plants. The next Eco-raider meeting , we started out by watching a video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It showed us how important it is to recycle and not use plastic. Then after a refreshing snack, the kids separated into groups and went out to the creek to explore with Jess. Then everyone started picking up all the trash around the creek. The rain had washed and brought down quite a bit of trash from upstream. < Cora with a bag of trash she collected.
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Read about our inaugural "Blooms & Buzz Day" below. This story was also featured in The Mountain Times. Honey bees, snakes, turtles, mealworms, ducklings, and even goats where some of the guests that made an appearance on “Blooms and Buzz Day” at Cove Creek School. The event took place on March 31st and brought together students, teachers, parents and other Cove Creek neighbors around one goal: to promote environmental awareness in the community. It was a celebration of nature that lasted all day, with classes participating in special, hands-on workshops on topics like composting, recycling, atmospheric science, local ecology and water conservation. During the day, parents were invited to help with the construction of the school garden and participate in lessons. Some of them joined the 5th graders and helped pick up litter around the creek, while others learned about animal adaptations with first grade or investigated soil and worms in third grade. The day also saw the debut of the school’s observational beehive, awarded by The Bee Cause Project, which was just one of the things buzzing with excitement at Cove Creek that day! The school’s official Bee Mentor Mr. Doug Galloway, and Bee Advocates Mrs. Sabena Maiden and Ms. Jess Lingle taught classes from Pre-K to Middle School and their parents, about the importance of bees to our food supply and tools of the trade. In the afternoon, students from Appalachian State University’s Office of Sustainability set up an exciting and educational “recycling relay” in which participants had to race to put garbage into the appropriate recycling bins. There was also a booth for learning how to properly discard 6-pack rings to protect ocean life, ran by 3rd grade students, as well as a local wildlife scavenger hunt. Members of the Watauga Beekepers Association Mary Williams and H.S. Greene set up a honey tasting station and impressed Blooms and Buzz attendees with their knowledge of beekeeping as a craft and their passion for protecting pollinators to ensure sustainable food systems. Another of the highlights of the afternoon was an intense solar car race which was run by members of Team Sunergy (ASU’s solar vehicle crew). The evening wrapped up with a bonfire and toasted marshmallows. They say “it takes a village,”and this couldn’t be more true for the Cove Creek school garden. The materials for the garden were obtained with funds from a grant awarded to Cove Creek School by Chartwells K12 and KidsGardening.org, and through the generosity of local companies like Vulcan Materials, New River Building Supply, Twin Oaks Landscaping, Southern Agriculture, Lowes Home Improvement, Miller’s Farm Supply and Greene Construction. Members of the community including Joey Townsend, Chuck Johnson, Will Carter, Larry and Justin Brooks, and Rob Plummer helped by bringing in the heavy machinery to move gravel and dirt over to the new garden. Other companies and organizations that supported the event where: Cove Creek Store, Lowes Foods, M Prints, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and the Mountaineer Ruritan Club. The EcoRaiders Environmental Club at the school was also awarded a generous grant by the ASU Sustainability Council to help organize the event. "Blooms and Buzz Day was a very fun day and we have put lots of effort into it. The fifth grade students did the lemonade stands. They tried their best on this and it was very fun and exciting for them. They have also tried their best to make their lemonade stands as Eco-friendly as they could. Also the 2nd graders had hatched ducklings and had them in the lobby. There was a gymnastics recital for ms. Jo's gymnastic class and they had lots of fun." -Sarah F. |
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June 2017
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