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The Outdoor Classroom
Spring 2006, Number 17
Inside
2 Centre Wellington
Memory Garden
3 Teaching and
learning with
Monarch butterflies
4 Is that a fact
The Learning Grounds Newsletter on school ground transformation
For Henry
On Christmas Day 2005, the school ground greening
movement in Canada lost a friend, mentor and force
of nature. Henry Kock, renowned horticulturalist
at the University of Guelph’s Arboretum,
succumbed to brain cancer after a gutsy
18-month battle. He was 53. Along
with many others who knew him,
I’ll never forget the first time I
met Henry: In a basement hall
in Peterborough, I listened to
this gentle giant explain
with great wisdom, subtlety
and passion how one of the
most compelling gardening
projects he’d ever seen was
on a school ground. It was
a talk that changed my life.
Henry was a master at nativeplant
propagation, his own backyard
a living laboratory. The last time we
stood in his garden together, he bent down
to the ground and his long fingers gently moved
aside the thick leaf litter to reveal an abundance of
seedlings, crouched in waiting for the coming spring.
He reiterated how possible and important it is to
create these living landscapes for our children to
connect to and learn from.
Henry taught many teachers how to establish mininurseries
on their school grounds so students could
experience the humbling and rewarding process
of growing plants from seed. And the sparks
that emanated from his vision and
knowledge are now torches being
carried by hundreds of educators
and landscape designers.
Two months before Henry’s
death, we spent a weekend
together in a small cabin
by a lake. We talked and
walked, and I came away
astonished by the elegance
of his spirit. He had
cultivated peace with
whatever the future would bring.
It was the wisdom of the forest
embodied in a human being, moving
through the cycle of life and death with
grace and acceptance.
Anne Hansen
I miss him deeply, but find healing, as he did, in the
power, wonder and exquisite beauty of nature.
Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds Program Manager
Our New Look
We’re excited to introduce a new design
to The Outdoor Classroom. Derived from
nature and fresh as the spring air, it’s playful,
innovative and engaging — just like Toyota
Evergreen Learning Grounds.
Research Bulletin: Green School Grounds Get Kids
Moving
Evergreen just conducted a national survey of 60 schools to investigate the
impact of green school grounds on levels and types of active play. Funded by
the Public Health Agency of Canada, the study shows that natural landscapes
enhance the quality of active play and strengthen the link between play and
learning. Here are some highlights:
• 85 percent of respondents said green school grounds support
a wider variety of play activities
• 49 percent said they encourage more vigorous physical activity
• 71 percent said they promote more moderate/light physical activity
• 89 percent said school food gardens increase opportunities for
physical activity
One in 10 Canadian children is overweight and one in three is obese. The results
of this new research underline the role green school grounds can play in combating
this disturbing trend. Look for the full report on our website later this year.

A Garden
to Remember
Photos by Sylvia Galbraith, Silver Creek Photography
More than 30 kids showed up on two separate weekends
last May to dig up and plant the garden. They moved 20
tonnes of dirt by hand over six hours and then replaced
it with two truckloads of triple mix.
The garden has become an oasis for students, and there has been no vandalism – not even a footprint in a flowerbed.
One parent even saw a couple of boys sitting on one of the benches playing guitars at 7:30 in the morning!
The new school was the catalyst the
community needed to make the garden
happen. Led by Galbraith, an avid gardener
and professional photographer, the project
quickly gained momentum. “One of the
construction and landscape design classes
did the plan and made a scale model of it,”
says Galbraith. “It gave the kids a chance
to create something practical. They came
up with the idea of a ‘living rock’ and they
wanted a vertical shape to symbolize life.”
In September 2004, century-old Centre
Wellington District High School in Fergus,
Ontario started a new life in a new building
at the edge of town. Planted in the corner
of a farmer’s field, the new school was all
perfect angles and fresh pink brick, a stark
contrast to the rich character and mature
landscaping of the old site. It needed
warming up. It needed humanity. And the
community needed healing.
Soil
The idea of a memory garden had actually
been floating around for some time, for by
strange circumstance this school of 1,500
kids had lost several children to accidents
and illness over the course of 10 years.
“The tragedies had touched everyone,”
says Sylvia Galbraith, co-chair of the
school council and the leader of the project.
“The guidance counselor told me kids would
come into the office and say, ‘What can I
do’ They felt so helpless in the face of
these deaths.”
Stewardship Activity: If the Earth Was an Apple
This hunk of granite, shot through with
amethyst, came from Thunder Bay and was
donated by parent John Eisen. As you can
see, the rock is the centerpiece of this project
and has become a powerful teaching and
learning tool for geology studies.
Students also designed and built the arbours
at the entrances (with donated lumber),
and a special education class planted the
four trees in the corners and helped put in
300 bulbs last fall. “This class doesn’t often
Worldwide, 25 billion tonnes of agricultural
topsoil are swept away every year — that’s 7
percent of the globe’s good growing land
every decade. Use an apple to demonstrate
the need for soil stewardship (you’ll need a
large apple and a knife). Ask the students
what they know about soil. What is it Why
do plants need it How does it help humans
Show them the apple and give the following
demonstration:
• Let’s say this apple is the Earth. (Cut the apple into
quarters and set three of the quarters aside.)
• Three quarters of this apple represents all the
oceans on Earth. The remaining quarter represents
all the land on Earth. (Cut the remaining quarter in
half and set one piece aside.)
• One half of the land is unfit for humans; it’s
either too hot, like a desert, or too cold like the
north and south poles. (Cut the remaining piece into

“...the very process of restoring the land to health
is the process through which we become attuned to Nature and through Nature,
with ourselves. Restoration forestry, therefore, is both the means
and the end, for as we learn how to restore the forest, we heal the forest,
and as we heal the forest, we heal ourselves.
”
CHRIS MASER IN THE FOREST PRIMEVAL
have the opportunity to help with projects
like this, and the kids were so happy with
their input,” says Galbraith.
The garden, funded in part by Evergreen, has
had a strong impact on the students, giving
them a sense of pride and ownership in their
school, enriching their daily experience, and
demonstrating that they can do something
real and positive in response to senseless
death. It has also, unexpectedly, connected
three of the families who had all lost sons.
“They showed up to plant last May and,
after being introduced, have become
friends,” says Galbraith. “The support they
have received from each other has helped
them immensely.”
quarters and set three of them aside.)
• Of the land that humans can live on, only
this small piece is land that we can grow
food on. The rest is too rocky, or there isn’t
enough sun for plants to grow. (Peel the
remaining piece).
• This thin peel represents the thickness of
the soil in which we grow our food. It’s only
about 1 m deep. This tiny portion is the only
area of the whole Earth where all the right
conditions exist to grow food. Enough food
The power of a garden to heal is legendary
and miraculous. Perhaps it’s as simple as
Shakespeare’s insight that “One touch of
nature makes the whole world kin.”
has to be produced on this small bit of land
to feed all of the people of the world.
With so little soil in the world, what
should people be doing to take care
of it (From Patterns Through
the Seasons,
LifeCycles and
Evergreen,
2003, p. 19)
Cam
Collyer
Teaching and
Learning
with Monarch
Butterflies!
Looking for inspiring summer training
This three-day workshop for K - 8
teachers is a combo of classroom
and field experience. Teachers learn
the life cycle, ecology and conservation
of monarchs; how to raise and release
them; provincial curriculum connections;
how to create a school butterfly garden
and more. There are three workshops
this summer and the cost is $75 per
person: Winnipeg Aug. 1-3; Ottawa
Aug. 9-11; and Orillia, Ontario Aug.
14-16.
For more information, go to
www.monarchcanada.org or email
monarchteacher@msn.com.
For other teacher training opportunities,
check out Teacher’s Corner on
evergreen.ca.

Is
that
a
Fact
The Red-breasted Nuthatch. Have you ever caught
sight of this little guy hopping down a tree trunk
head first, and wondered why it likes the world
upside down Turns out clever Sitta Canadensis
is on the prowl for tiny organisms in the nooks
and crannies of bark that other creatures have
overlooked on their way up. The Nuthatch’s big
hind toe and stubby tail provide secure footing
while he forages with his beak. And he also uses
his beak as a nutcracker (hence the name nut-hack
or nuthatch), wedging nuts in crevices and hammering
them apart. Look for this busy bird in mixed-wood and
coniferous forests.
Source: Hinterland Who’s Who, a partnership of the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the Canadian Wildlife Service, www.hww.ca
robertmccaw.com
New Online Discussion Forum!
Infinitely expandable, unfathomably deep, informative, entertaining and inspiring — it’s a
new community of school ground greening folk, the place to connect with like minds across
Canada and internationally. From maze gardens to maintenance strategies, food projects to
fencing plans, you’ll find topics galore, with more added daily. It’s an easy-to-use bulletin
board where you can post questions, comments, documents, photos and videos. Dive in.
Join the discussion. It’s potluck, but it’s powerful. Go to evergreen.ca and click on Learning
Grounds. You’ll find the Discussion Forum in the menu bar at the top right of the page.
We Crave your Feedback!
A reminder to all schools that received funding or expert help from one of our Associates
this year that our evaluations are now online. Please take a few minutes to fill them out; it
will help us make the program better. Log in to Evergreen.ca and click on the link “Evaluate
the Learning Grounds Program”.
The Outdoor Classroom is a biannual newsletter published by Evergreen and distributed free of charge to schools across
Canada. No portion of The Outdoor Classroom may be reproduced, stored or transferred, electronically or otherwise, without
the express written permission of Evergreen.
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www.evergreen.ca
1-888-426-3138
Evergreen Head Office 355 Adelaide St. W., 5th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 1S2
Evergreen adheres to the Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code of Imagine Canada.
Donations and membership are tax deductible. Charitable registration Number: BN 131815763 RR0001.
Evergreen and Toyota Canada Inc. and its Dealerships are working together to ensure that children’s school environments are nurturing, learning environments. The Toyota Evergreen
Learning Grounds Program represents a commitment to contribute positively to the health and well-being of future generations by educating children about the importance of restoring and
preserving the environment. Teachers, students and community members are invited to participate in a nationwide effort to reclaim Canada’s school grounds and to create healthy learning
environments.
Check out the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds Charter on Evergreen’s web site — www.evergreen.ca/en/lg/lg-charter.html