4thGradeHabitat

4th Grade Habitat
The first order of business was to get the newspaper recycling bins moved away from in
front of them. Gudrun Opperman then drew up a proposed master plan envisioning
landscaping around the front, plantings inside the courtyard, and large pots with
plantings at the entrance. Since there was little funding available from the district for
this, Mrs. Cardoso headed down to our neighbors, Lowe's, to see if they could donate
some materials. Fortunately they said "yes" and agreed to not only give us materials,
but to build the beds at the front of the building. On a hot day in October, a crew from
Lowe's, headed up by Christina and Les, built the beds that are out there now and filled
them with soil. A week or two later they returned with a batch of annual flowers which
they planted with the help of the fourth graders.

Over the past year, a sprinkler system has been added with funds provided by
ExxonMobil. The Growers have planted a number of native plants and bushes. The
Nature Club has also added a birdbath, which they keep filled with fresh water for the
birds and butterflies. A few volunteers have worked at maintenance with weeding,
replanting, fertilizing, and mulching.

Work still to be done includes the addition of soil and grass in front of the beds where
the recycling bins used to be and the possible addition of some trees. Also, so far, no
work has been done on the courtyard or the entrance. While we have funds available for
this work, we have not been able to find any volunteers willing to become the lead for
this project. If you are interested in this area, please contact Vivian Cardoso.