Washington-Hoyt Elementary School PTA(253) 571-5700
Home of the Cougars!
GREEN SCHOOLS!
If you have just ONE hour to volunteer this year here's the opportunity for you!!
What's the project?
We're starting the W-H lunch compost program to collect all waste food. Instead of being dumped in the landfill it will be sent for composting and turned back into useful soil.
What does the volunteer do?
Help ensure the program's success! Stand by the two garbage bins--one for garbage, one for waste food--and remind kids to separate their waste food from their garbage during the 4th/5th grade and 3rd grade lunches, 12:30 to 1:30.
Why's this important?
Food is heavy and is by far the biggest component of the school's garbage by weight. Since we're charged for garbage by weight, landfilling food is a HUGE waste of money! Waste food is valuable organic matter. Let's return it to the land, not lock it up in a landfill.
How do I sign up?
Just click on the link below. It will take you to the on-line calendar and you can click on the day that you'd like to volunteer.
http://www.helpersignup.com/viewsheet.php?type=2&sheet=bf2bb748c44e234a0b1cecbd6053a114
If you have any questions, please email Felicity Devlin!
Washington-Hoyt Green Schools introduces The GOODBYN!
Reduce the amount of waste created by kid’s lunches. Currently, each child generates 67 pounds of waste each school year.
Make it easy to use. Goodbyn lunchbox is dishwasher safe, has few parts to keep track of, eliminates the need for plastic bags and drink boxes, and is recyclable once you’re done with it at the end of the school year.
Save parents money. Estimates show that parents can save over $190 a year by not using plastic bags and drink boxes.
Make it interesting. Stickers are included so kids can personalize their lunchbox and make them their own. We know that lunchtime is social time, and the Goodbyn lunchbox makes it fun!
Please follow this link to read more about Goodbyn and green schools.http://www.wahoyt.org/forms_files/goodbyn.pdf
To order check out www.goodbyn.com for color choices and then e-mail Karen Bagley ktbagley@msn.com to place your order. There will be free shipping once we receive 8 orders. Saving the planet one lunchbox at a time!
Spring 2010 Gardening!
Spring’s almost here, and that means garden time! For the second year I’ll be coordinating the Washington garden, and Angela Trinen will coordinate down at Hoyt. Between March 17-26, each class will get a one-hour garden lesson, including classroom instruction and planting of peas, salad greens, flowers or potatoes. These will be harvested just before summer vacation in June and made into yummy salads (last year, one class came back for thirds!) We have some wonderful volunteers who are supplying seeds and starts, but we do need extra help either during your child’s lesson time or in the next two weeks to help with maintenance. Contact me if you’re interested! Rosemary Ponnekanti, 761-8324
School Garden
The Green Schools Committee has completely renovated the Washington campus garden, located on the school’s north-east corner (opposite the Post Office.) Planter boxes have been weeded and classes will have outside lessons that day planting veggies and flowers for Food Bank donations. New planter boxes are being constructed for around the fence to hold climbers like sweet pea and sunflower, and the mound is being planted with natives and perennials to attract wildlife. A barrier between the teachers’ parking lot and the garden is being planted with sweet-smelling rosemary and lavender. There’s a compost barrel for weeds.
Please stop by anytime to see what we and the students have done. Seasonal starts and seeds would also be welcome in June and September. Planting a garden teaches our kids so much about the environment, science, where food comes from and self-sufficiency.
Love gardening? We are always looking for someone to help out with both the Washington and the Hoyt gardens. General maintenance, help with harvesting, assisting teachers with their classroom gardens...contact Rosemary Ponnekanti 761-8324 if you are interested.
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Green Schools Committee
The very successful Green School Committee meets about every three weeks in Mrs. Murphy's room and is always looking for folks interested in helping out. If you are interested contact, Felicity Devlin 761-8066. Also, sign up for the Green Schools emails by sending Felicity an email and letting her know you are interested.
*Felicity will be retiring from this position at the end of the school year. If you are interested in taking over this position for the 2011-2012 school year, please contact Felicity Devlin or one of the PTA Presidents to find out more information.