Summit Preparatory School achieves silver certification!
Complete with a tree house and towering oak trees, the outdoor space behind Summit Preparatory School feels more like an idyllic backyard than a traditional schoolyard. Tucked into the far corner of the yard is a pollinator planting filled with wild bergamot and blue sage. The planting, installed shortly after the school opened at its current location approximately 5 years ago, was paid for with grant funding from the Pollinator Garden Grant program which provides funding for neighborhoods, community gardens, schools, and individuals who would like to learn how to plant and maintain native plants in their landscapes. The garden has certifications from both the Missouri Department of Conservation and Wild Ones, a non-profit dedicated to promoting native landscapes through education, advocacy and collaborative action. Now, Summit Preparatory can add Yard Ethic certification to their growing list of achievements.
For Elise Bowsher, the Outdoor Education teacher at Summit Preparatory School, the connection between education and the outdoors is only natural. In fact, she and her Cultivating Conservation class were instrumental in achieving the City’s Yard Ethic Business certification. She worked with her students to identify native plant species, calculate the square footage of native plantings, and submit the application. In addition to the pollinator garden, native flowers and shrubs have been added around the building. On a cool November day, when most of the urban landscape is dormant and brown, the native plantings displayed a brilliant assortment of rich, fall colors. Shiny purple clusters of beauty berries complement the bright yellow leaves of Ozark blue star, and the last colorful blooms of aromatic asters and goldenrod add additional pops of purple and yellow to the landscape.
Whenever possible, Mrs. Bowsher teaches her classes in the school’s outdoor classroom, which conveniently has Wi-Fi connection, and the native landscape is an integral part of her lesson plans. Tara Bonebrake, Upper School Director, described one example, when Mrs. Bowsher brought in some paw paw fruit and the students picked berries from along the back fence line, which has been planted with edible natives, including blackberries, brambles and mulberry bushes. Ms. Bonebrake expressed her excitement about the school’s outdoor education program, stating, “This is our first year really bringing in the outdoor education program and to have the students engaged and interested is really fantastic.”
Last semester, upper school students participated in courses titled “conservation in the big backyard” and “wilderness survival skills,” and next semester’s courses will focus on reading in the outdoors and nature journaling and photography. “I think Elise has done a wonderful job planning great experiences for the students,” added Ms. Bonebrake.
In addition to native plants, the school has pledged to utilize environmentally-friendly sealants on their parking lots, conduct monthly litter clean-ups in the schoolyard, and participate in an annual volunteer event at Watershed’s Valley Water Mill facility. While the school already conserves water by not utilizing an irrigation system, they plan to improve water conservation on the property by installing a rain barrel to utilize rooftop runoff to water native plantings.
As the facility tour concluded, a group of excited first graders ran across the school yard before gathering around a group of oaks, notebooks in hand. When asked what they were doing, they excitedly exclaimed, “Nature notice! Nature notice!” Thank you, Summit Preparatory School, for noticing nature, and for that, the City of Springfield notices you!