Term Paper on "Literacy Gardens"

Quoted Instructions for "Literacy Gardens" Assignment:

This is what I have so far:

Literacy Garden-Concept Paper

About Us:

Holy Cross School (l'Ecole Sainte Croix) was founded in September 1927 to serve the needs of French speaking immigrants living in Holy Cross Parish. With an original enrollment of 219 students, the elementary school grew quickly in size; in 1931, the pupils numbered 375.

From the beginning, Holy Cross School has been staffed by Religious of the Presentation of Mary. These sisters were founded by Blessed Anne-Marie Rivier in 1796 in Thueyts, France and have left an indelible mark on the school. Religious and cultural traditions are at the heart of our school. We are blessed by the presence of our Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, who still work actively to promote Catholic education here at Holy Cross School.

In 1934, the French government, through the intermediary of the Sainte John Baptist Society, donated a gift of $50.00 to the school in recognition of efforts to preserve the French language and traditions.

Today, Holy Cross School is the only elementary school in Lewiston to provide French language courses for all grades, beginning in Kindergarten.

The school continues to be associated with the parish that bears the same name but serves students from around the region. Students come from other parishes and nearly 30 students belong to other faith traditions.

Project:

Our project goal is to create a Literacy Garden at Holy Cross School. Gardens can be many things -- a source of food, a way to relieve stress, a hobby, and a quiet refuge -- but there's also a program in some cities that use gardens as a learning tool. The Literacy Garden Program idea has been around for several years and has many active participants all around the United States. It's a diversity garden that can be used by our community, our church and most of all our students. It is my vision that all of the above would be combined together at some point in the project.

Plants not only will provide students with a learning experience in addition to the science curriculum already in place but this project will also incorporate flowers to attract birds and butterflies. Students will be able to study types of habitat that each could possibly make in our garden. This would give students a hands on science lab. It will be the student’s responsibility with their teacher to do the research on what plants will offer us what we are looking for and best fro our soil type and sun shade factor. Students can then begin to graph out the garden with help from local landscapers on the computer. This will increase student’s ability to graph on the computer and follow through with a design scheme.

This would also provide a place for spring summer and fall reading for students who are having a difficult time it may relieve them of stress from the classroom setting. It will also bring in members of the community to share their expertise in the gardening field. By doing this part of the project it would allow students to see exactly how many parts it takes to make a community whole. It would also give students the opportunity to see public leaders as readers and environmentalists who care about the community schools.

In my vision I would like to also include local artists to help with the design and construction of the garden, and also involve our own very talented students by having each class make a stepping-stone to be placed in our garden a tradition that can be carried on for years.

The garden could also be used for meditation and local schools could schedule field trips and talk with students about the habitat currently in the garden and how they made it happen.

I would estimate a high involvement in church and community. That which would keep our budget lower then usual. If you use resources at the local library and local master gardeners we should be able to do the research without a lot of cost. The students would write letters to members in the community asking for help which in return would help with there writing skill development. They would also be encouraged to speak at local non-profit organizations and church services to request money which will build on students communication skills.

As the person requesting this grant I will also look at other sources that are interested in funding literacy garden programs. I would estimate that this would be a one time request to get the project off the ground of 5,000 dollars and the project would be able to self sustain itself through the church and community in the following years.