2015-Northridge Elementary Youth SWAT: Planting at Village Greens Park

Start Date-End Date: 04/30/2015-04/30/2015 Land Manager Office: Greenwood Village, City of Land Manager Contact: Kurt Nielson Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Children will be planting native shrubs and trees at the disc golf course at Village Greens Park. Once planting is completed, they will pick-up trash, remove invasive species, and put mulch around all shrubs/trees. Description: Children will be planting native shrubs and trees at the disc golf course at Village Greens Park. Once planting is completed, they will pick-up trash, remove invasive species, and put mulch around all shrubs/trees. Latitude/Longitude: 39.638295, -104.878300 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 60 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 15 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 56 Total Volunteer Days: 71 Total Unique Volunteers: 71 Total Volunteer Hours: 355 Staff Hours: 22 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Thursday, April 30th, 56 third graders and 15 adults from Northridge Elementary School in Highlands Ranch came out to Village Greens Park to help plant native shrubs and trees, remove invasive species, pick up trash, and mulch plants at the park's disc golf course. The students worked super hard, and got all the plants in the ground very quickly. They proceeded on to complete all the other tasks. After lunch, two representatives from a local disc shop came by to give the kids a little presentation on how to play disc golf. They had a bunch of discs, and the kids got to try it out! Successes and Challenges: I went to the school first thing in the morning and gave them a short presentation on VOC. This was nice, because it was fresh in the kids' mind, and then they got to go out and experience one of our projects. The kids flew through the planting, so having other small projects for them was necessary. The opportunity to try out disc golf was great for the kids too--they worked hard all morning to make improvements to the course, and then they got to recreate on it. Lessons Learned: With kids, build in a little time for them to explore where they are. There was a prairie dog village and a place where several big logs were stacked that the kids had a great time exploring. They were using their imaginations, and it provided a break from the work, and for them to explore their "wild side." We also played a few games at the end of the day that went over well. Have a few of these up your sleeve for when the kids get restless. Special Notes: Chris Bleau, the teacher I worked with, is keen to do another project next year. Stewardship Education: I provided a presentation at the school before going to the project site. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: