Many hands large and small made light work of a springtime kick-start to the Valleycliffe Elementary School effort to create a “living classroom” on the weekend.
About 100 people gathered on Saturday (April 26) — four days after Earth Day (April 22) — to dig out raised planting beds, plant trees donated by Tree Canada and the Squamish River Watershed Society as part of a new “ephemeral wetland” and unveil an interpretive sign about the natural wonders to be found in a seemingly open field between the school and the Stawamus River dike.
In addition to teachers, parents and students from the school, those in attendance included Edith Tobe, director of the Squamish River Watershed Society, which has helped fundraise for the project, and Ryan Cook, the local woodcarver whose expertly crafted pillars flank the new interpretive sign created by Squamish-based InBiz.
Rhonda O’Grady, the Valleycliffe School Parent Advisory Council (PAC) chair, penned a recent press release about the event under the title “no child left inside.” The premise, she said, is that youngsters learn far better outdoors — whether the subject matter is geometry, social studies or science.
“The idea is to get them outside, where they actually learn better,” said O’Grady, a biologist and environmental educator by trade. “They’re more engaged, there’s less bullying when they’re outside and they’re in the natural environment.”
Raised beds, which last year served as vegetable gardens, will this year be planted as “pollinator gardens,” with flowers that attract bees and butterflies. The “ephemeral wetland” — which will contain water during the rainy season but remain drier in the summer — is being designed as prime habitat for frogs and salamanders. Both are already present in the area, O’Grady said.
The PAC and SRWS are also fundraising for an outdoor amphitheatre that’s planned near the wetland. The facility is envisioned as a place where students can study quietly or as a venue for concerts and interpretive talks, she said.
Next week (May 5 to 9), SRWS is running its Field Day Program for students in the Mamquam Reunion area just past the Riverside RV Resort and Campground near Centennial Way.
“We are fully booked with elementary schools visiting the site to learn, experience and discover riparian forests, salmon, insects, plants and the amazing way everything is connected,” O’Grady wrote in an email to The Chief.
