The first-ever DC School Garden Week is coming up Oct. 15_20, and it’s going to be a big week for Capitol Hill schools. DC Schoolyard Greening, a program of the DC Environmental Education Consortium, will be honoring several Capitol Hill schools as super achievers. The schoolyards and gardens of Peabody Elementary, Myrtilla Miner Elementary, Watkins Elementary and Ludlow-Taylor Elementary will be featured.

The DC School Garden Week is modeled after a similar program held in California. California is the first state to allocate $15 million to support gardens in the state’s 6,000 schools. Under the program, an average school receives $2,500, which is only a portion of the money needed to sustain a school garden. Governor Schwarzenegger (R) has noted: “We need to take responsibility and teach our children what a healthy lifestyle is about through promoting healthy eating. School gardens create opportunities for children to learn to make healthier food choices and teach fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity prevention.”

DC Environmental Education Consortium is a group of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, teachers and concerned individuals interested in improving green spaces in the schools of our nation’s capitol and expanding educational opportunities for students. Events planned include the fourth annual Schoolyard Bus Tour, first-ever schoolyard photo contest, meet the experts panel discussion and school garden workdays.

On a recent Friday afternoon, Grace Manubay, DC Schoolyard Greening Committee chair and a member of the Casey Tree Foundation staff, hosted a spirited meeting of public school teachers, educational coordinators and staff members of the District of Columbia’s Department of Environment to finish plans for the week. The event will provide a chance for everyone from kids to adults to participate and be “schooled” in the exciting greening efforts.

“Our goal,” Manubay says, “is to increase awareness of school gardens and other greening efforts at DC schools and to highlight the schools that have done and continue to improve students’ access to outdoor learning and recreation areas. Schools like Watkins and Peabody really have a great record in integrating gardens and green spaces around the physical building and community into their curriculum.”

Watkins Elementary School will be the starting point for the Schoolyard Bus Tour on Oct. 20 at 9 a.m. The school was selected because of its series of theme gardens that surround the entire school, including two very special ones – the prehistoric and Native American gardens. Watkins “Living Urban Schoolyard” began 10 years ago at its 410 12th St. SE location. It has received funding over the years from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation. Teachers and students work together to design the over 25 gardens, and a teacher training program is even in place to help teachers incorporate gardens across the curriculum. The bus tour costs $15 per person if signed up before Sept. 30 or $20 thereafter. Bus transportation and lunch is provided with the bus returning to Watkins by 3 p.m.

To register for the tour, mail your check payable to DCEEC along with the registration form (available at www.dcschoolyardgreening.org) to Trinh Doan, District Department of Environment, Watershed Protection Division, 51 N St. NE, Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20002.

The tour will also go to Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, LaSalle Elementary, which is working to become one of the most environmentally friendly schools in the District, Lowell Elementary School and Sharpe Health School, designed to be wheelchair accessible in its courtyard garden. Past participants of the tour found it a fabulous way to get inspired and the tips for starting a school project invaluable.

Barbara Percival, Watkins volunteer garden coordinator, has watered and nurtured the gardens all summer, and she cannot wait for the students to return to see the plot of dirt that was planted last spring transformed into a lush garden with tall corn stalks, pumpkins and other plants. Barbara says, “They just aren’t going to believe it.”

The Watkins gardens take about $2,500 a year to maintain, not counting volunteer hours by parents, community folks, teachers and children. The Capitol Hill Community Foundation, private donors and in-kind gifts from Fragers Hardware and neighbors make it all possible. Barbara notes that over the past five years she has definitely seen an improvement in the comfort level of the students in being outdoors and in taking responsibility for the plants. She also noted that observation skills have improved along with their writing.

Peabody Elementary School is the envy of many schoolyard projects around DC and beyond. The school has successfully integrated a community, business and teaching curriculum in its approach. This summer the school has been awarded a special grant by the LOWES Charitable and Educational Foundation of $25,000 to build a Discovery Garden on the Fourth Street NE side of the school. Turf, pavers and a meditation labyrinth have already been put into the hardcape of the garden that will open in October.

Two master gardeners, Mary Blakeslee and Vira Sisolak, have been the driving force in developing and caring for the Peabody School gardens. Both are graduates of DC’s master gardening program operated by Sandra Faber Farber, environmental and natural resources extension agent and master gardener coordinator at the University of the District of Columbia. The teachers, PTA, Capitol Hill Community Foundation and other Capitol Hill community groups have all pitched in to raise money for the school garden. The butterfly garden is used for a butterfly-tagging program for the 141 children that attend the Cluster School. Students here begin what is hoped to be a lifetime of learning about what it means to be good environmental stewards.

One of the goals of Garden Week is to encourage other schools throughout the District to develop partnerships and programs similar to Peabody. The Casey Tree Foundation knows that growing a healthier DC requires greening our schools. With DC school properties occupying more than twice the size of the National Mall (approximately 640 acres), schoolyards are key places to maximize social, economic and ecological benefits to the District of Columbia, according to the “Greening Our Schools” report of Casey Trees.

Myrtilla Miner Elementary and Ludlow-Taylor Elementary in Northeast both draw on national resources for teaching. Both schools have participated in the US National Arboretum’s Washington Youth Garden program that provides students with winter classroom and spring gardening experiences. The new director of the Washington Youth Garden, Kaifa Anderson-Hall, is herself a graduate of the Youth Garden experience as a former DC student. Connecting the kids to natural cycles and responsibility for caring for plants is what brought Kaifa back to the Arboretum. Kaifa noted recently during an interview on local television “once students start connecting to the earth, their focus shifts to many other aspects of their academic learning and interests.”

David Hilmy feels the same. As a member of the Schoolyard Greening Committee and teacher at Lasalle Elementary School, he draws his inspiration and enthusiasm from many different resources and places. With his easy smile, the green Pied Piper of eco-efficiency kept reminding the Schoolyard Greening Committee that it is important to make sure their efforts are well integrated. He assured the committee that his returning students – now fourth graders – will be more than ready to explain to DC Mayor Fenty (D), an invited guest for the kickoff activities, about runoff issues and the importance of their wetland plantings. As the saying goes, he has “taught his children well.”

Mark your calendars now to participate in one or all of the many exciting activities scheduled for DC School Garden Week, Oct. 15-20. For more information or to get involved, contact Grace Manuby at gmanuby@caseytrees.org or 202-349-1892. Or visit www.dcschoolyardgreening.org.

indy O’Brien has been living on Capitol Hill for over 30 years. She is the former executive director of the Friends of the National Arboretum, and a long-time advocate for open spaces and parks. She welcomes suggestions for future columns and can be reached at rindyob@mac.com.