The nature center reminds me of a secret garden with three walls of school classroom windows overlooking the space and the fourth "wall" is fenced in with a gate looking out to the back of the building.
There is a circular path that meanders around the space through mature trees and established plantings of shrubs and perennials. As you go on the path you are under shade and eventually go out to very sunny parts. The path is wide made of a variety of materials like bricks or very fine gravel.
I think this space was designed and implemented a couple decades ago, and it recently went through several years of neglect. Hence, the need for a great deal of weeding and trimming of overgrown shrubs and trees. I know the lady who is doing the weeding maintenance because my grandchildren are in the nature club she runs in our area and they are both in schools she does the nature work with. It is my pleasure to be helping in this maintenance. It's hard work, but the results will be worth it this fall when the teachers and children return.
So, doing this post in separate posts was my solution to finally get this answered for you!
Elaine/ret/INWow, men, that nature center sounds like a lovely park. How cool that the classrooms can look out over the area. The painted boulders, the paths, the bridge, the lily pads. It is so good for the kids to interact with nature like this. Places like that really demand a dedicated staff/volunteers, don't they?
If it's helpful, I've pasted a more thorough project description belo...See MoreHi all, I'm working to create a letter-writing project between my (very liberal) Boston students and those in more conservative parts of the country. Does anyone have connections to middle or high schools in these regions? Public, private, or charter is fine.
If it's helpful, I've pasted a more thorough project description below. Thanks very much, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Project Description:
The Correspondence Project aims to create engagement between secondary students (grades 6-12) who identify on different ends of the political spectrum. Over the course of one school year, student pairs will exchange letters each month. These letters are not necessarily meant to persuade each other about particular issues, but instead to humanize both writers through a regular and meaningful correspondence.
Along with discussing their personal interests and lives, monthly questions will challenge students to reflect on their own values and perspectives. Potential prompts might include, "Who in your life has most influenced your values?" or "What is the biggest misunderstanding others have about people like you?" As students correspond, the project aims to give them a more nuanced understanding of personal and political difference.
I think it's essential that this project be generated in direct collaboration with another teacher whose students identify as politically different than my own predominantly liberal students. Ultimately, I hope that the project will be made replicable through a website where students and teachers can sign up to be matched with others throughout the country.
Elaine/ret/INThe national parks in Southern Utah are must-sees. Pikes Peak. Arch in St. Louis. Great Smokey Mountains. No experience with Rv's, though it's quite possible your RV came from our area of northern Indiana. Good luck. Report back after your trip.
I am on my laptop and I hit control and click on shift and nothing happens. I do not have a clue as to how to find the icon you are talking about on my phone either. Also, when I try to comment, even though I am logged in, there is nothing to hit to post. Sometimes I can't even log on. Something isn't right here. Sorry!
This may have been addressed before, but I didn't see it. When I tried to join it wouldn't accept my "hotmail" address. It is the only address I use. Will I not be able to join?
Elaine/ret/INMen, I love Howe dedicated you are to your biking group. Such progress. Especially in the HEAT! (Which my iPhone autocorrected to ❤, which you certainly have!
Have a great weekend and...See MoreOnly 6,817 steps, so far. Garden work, treadmill and hot shower. I am not sure I am enjoying this new format. Have to get used to it, I guess.
Elaine, I hope the dog bite is healing up and the stitches will soon be out. How long? Too bad you have to change your route, but I do not blame you, one bit(e)!!!