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Schoolyard Initiative Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
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Superintendent Johnson and members of the Healthy Connections Awards Committee present BSI staff with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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The Boston Schoolyard Initiative is thrilled to have been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BPS Health and Wellness Summit on April 23. The award honors BSI for its nearly two decades of service and ongoing contributions towards creating healthy school environments for Boston Public Schools' students.
To learn more about how vibrant schoolyards contribute to the health and wellness of BPS students, take a look at our new video.
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Three New Schoolyards Completed!
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Third grader Anthony Curioso helps Mayor Menino cut the ribbon for the Henderson School's new outdoor classroom.
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BSI is proud to help unveil three new schoolyard projects this month. School communities at the Henderson Inclusion School in Dorchester, Grew Elementary School in Hyde Park, and Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown are celebrating the completion of their new schoolyards and outdoor classrooms. Many thanks to all of the school staffers, landscape architects, and city officials who helped to build these beautiful spaces. You can learn more about each project on our website.
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The Power of Friendship Helps Revive a Local Schoolyard  | |
A memorial playscape finds new life at the Henry Grew School.
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A play structure built to honor the life of a young local woman has found a new home at the Henry Grew Elementary School. In 2004, students from the Boston University Community Service Center decided to purchase and install a playscape at the Farragut School in Mission Hill in memory of their classmate, deneen zarada. Soon after graduation deneen (who preferred not to capitalize her name) passed away in a tragic car accident. Upon hearing of the Farragut School's closing, Melissa Mueller Serviss, a close friend of deneen's, posted her lament on a social media website. What would become of this special memorial now that the school was empty?
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Melissa Mueller Serviss in front of a plaque describing the history of the memorial playscape.
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Serendipitously, her post was seen by her old friend and BSI staffer, Maureen White. White was able to share the news that the Grew was moving the playscape to their own school-
yard as part of their renovation project. By re-purposing the structure, they were able to save money that went towards other much-needed schoolyard features. Last June the group "Friends of deneen zarada" decided to raise funds for the Boston Schoolyard Initiative to allow even more children to enjoy the gift of play.
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Good Idea Showcase: Sharing What's Happening in the Trotter School's Outdoor Classroom
 | | Mary Smoyer's bulletin board at the Trotter School. |
On a warm, sunny April day, the Boston Schoolyard Initiative visited the Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester to speak to outdoor classroom volunteer Mary Smoyer about her innovative ways of keeping the Trotter community informed about what is going on outdoors. Although she retired from teaching several years ago, Mary, a self-described gardening enthusiast, still comes to the Trotter a few times a week to check on, maintain, and plant in the school's outdoor classroom. She has had the opportunity to see students and teachers interact with the space since its development ten years ago. By now, Mary knows the outdoor classroom extremely well and is more than happy to share her knowledge with students and her peers. She regularly updates a colorful bulletin board inside the school, incorporating leaves and plants from the outdoor classroom, related clippings from local newspapers, and various children's books about gardening. The outdoor classroom bulletin board is eye-catching, informative, and interactive, to excite students... read more.
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SCIENCE IN THE SCHOOLYARD™ RESEARCH STUDY LAUNCHES IN MAY
We're very excited to announce the launch of a research study to evaluate the contribution of Science in the Schoolyard™ to high quality science instruction in Boston Public Schools. All BPS K-5 principals and science teachers will receive an invitation to participate in an online survey late May. Please help us by doing the survey! We look forward to sharing the results of the study, led by the Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE) at the University of Chicago with you next fall. Thanks for your help!
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MASS AG IN THE CLASSROOM CONFERENCE
Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom is hosting their annual summer conference on July 18 in Holden MA. All workshops will offer connections from the garden to the classroom. For more information visit their website.
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VISIT OUR BLOG
Teachers, be sure not to miss our blog about teaching and learning in the schoolyard. If you would like to write a guest blog post, let us know! |
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SHARE YOUR SUCCESS STORIES
Is your school using your schoolyard or outdoor classroom in interesting ways? Is outdoor play or learning part of your school's recipe for success? If so we want to hear about it! To be part of our Good Idea Showcase, send your schoolyard success story to Maureen White
maureenwhite@schoolyards.org |
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PLEASE CONSIDER A GIFT TODAY!
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Boston Schoolyard Initiative One Center Plaza Suite 350 Boston, Massachusetts 02108 www.schoolyards.org |
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