2015-Rocky Mountain Prep Youth SWAT: Weeding/Trash Pick-Up at Aurora Water

Start Date-End Date: 04/22/2015-04/22/2015 Land Manager Office: City of Aurora Land Manager Contact: Diana Denwood Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Kids will be helping to pull weeds, rake mulch, and pick up trash at the Xeriscape Garden at Aurora Water. Description: Kids will be helping to pull weeds, rake mulch, and pick up trash at the Xeriscape Garden at Aurora Water. Latitude/Longitude: Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: High Altitude Project: Desired Number of Volunteers: 80 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 8 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 80 Total Volunteer Days: 88 Total Unique Volunteers: 88 Total Volunteer Hours: 264 Staff Hours: 14 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015 (Earth Day!), 80 second graders from Rocky Mountain Prep Academy came out to the Aurora Municipal Building, where Aurora Water runs a demonstration Xeriscape garden. Most of the kids said they don't spend a lot of time outdoors, and they had not participated in any kind of outdoor stewardship. The kids were given a short presentation, and then broke up into 4 groups to accomplish different tasks. One group moved and raked mulch around one of the garden beds, one group picked up and moved cut perennial grasses, one group picked weeds/grasses out of a soft gravel trail, and the last group picked up trash and recycling around the property. At the end of the day, the whole group did a plant scavenger hunt in the garden. Successes and Challenges: These kids were pretty young, and didn't have an attention span that could last very long. The schedule we had set worked out pretty well, because they could really only do an hour to an hour and a half of work. Lessons Learned: When working with large groups of young kids, have several different phases planned for the day. We did an education portion first, then worked, then had lunch, and then did a scavenger hunt. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Diana and myself provided the education portion with talking about where Colorado gets its water supply, and why conservation is important. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Gina Dermigny is a Cairn Mentor, and was also the teacher contact for this school. Good school to work with in the future for younger projects. Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: