Maple Community

Dear Parents,

I have many to thank for a successful Earth Day on Friday. First of all, Mary Beth always has done a fabulous job of planning and executing the campus-wide event. Many thanks, Mary Beth. Our community was the first (I think!) to receive a rain barrel due to the talent and generosity of Reese's mom and dad, Kim and Al. Al came in Friday morning and delivered and installed the barrel and stand that he handmade. (Al, I bet you could make a nice little side business with that!) It rained over the weekend and we already used some free water from our barrel to water the newly planted seeds and plants. So cool!

Charlotte, Ida Lee's mom, was generous to share her newly formed earth worm farm. Our new effort to compost and recycle spurred Charlotte to go further by creating a worm farm that turns her compost into "black gold". The children all experienced the worms and their results. Charlotte, thank you! Several parents showed up and worked hard clearing the garden in order for the children to use it. Andrea found a snake that she calmly picked up with her rake. Many pulled, tied and then helped the children have a hand in beautifying our garden environment. Other parents and grandparents helped with the craft. We use our outside environment every day that we possibly can. The children hammer, weed, dig, water, wash cloths, hang things up to dry, sweep, rake, clean windows, cut flowers, etc. It is an invaluable part of the Montessori experience and I thank each of you for helping us on Friday. A special belated thank you to Aubrey and his grandfather (not sure which one) who made the new bird house for our garden. We installed it Friday also.

Thank you for all you do to support Denise and I.

Robin