Our Project: RMMS Garden
Team Planning:
In September of 2017, Ms. Cliffe (7th grade science) and Ms. White (8th grade science) teamed up to created a GBLA group in our school. They wanted a group where they could empower young women and open their eyes to another world in the science field.
We started off with our very first meeting in Ms. Cliffe’s room. We talked out what was GBLA, what topic we wanted to focus on, and how we would bring the project to life.
Early on we looked over the three topics and discussed them:
Health and Wellness
STEM & College Access
Civic Engagement and Leadership
We chose Health and Wellness as our main topic. In our school, there is a corner store where many students go and buy junk food. Our school is located by a freeway, so the air from the cars goes to our school and can get the students sick. Our environment in school also has no respect for plant life inside and outside of school. We wanted this to change.
Our project was to make a garden in our school. Over the course of six months we were at work. Over the weekend, on Saturdays we held meetings to talk about our project, how we will present it to our school, and how much of an affect it would have on our school.
On Saturdays, Luna’s dad was there to help us build the planters for our flowers and vegetables. The first week Luna’s dad was showing how to use the saw, power drill, and other hand-held tools to make our planters. While we were making planters, we had a lot of fun because we learned how to use tools that we had never used - power saws, drills, and more. We got our seeds and now our garden has carrots, herbs, tomatoes, milkweed (with the help of Ms. Bredeson), and different trees. We even planted blueberry bushes on the sides of two peaceful benches.
Overall, our whole experience in GBLA is something special and something we would never forget. We have countless happy moments such as birthday parties and celebrations of milestones we reached. We hope that future generations of GBLA will find happiness in this group as much as we did, and we hope RMMS enjoys the garden for years to come.
In September of 2017, Ms. Cliffe (7th grade science) and Ms. White (8th grade science) teamed up to created a GBLA group in our school. They wanted a group where they could empower young women and open their eyes to another world in the science field.
We started off with our very first meeting in Ms. Cliffe’s room. We talked out what was GBLA, what topic we wanted to focus on, and how we would bring the project to life.
Early on we looked over the three topics and discussed them:
Health and Wellness
STEM & College Access
Civic Engagement and Leadership
We chose Health and Wellness as our main topic. In our school, there is a corner store where many students go and buy junk food. Our school is located by a freeway, so the air from the cars goes to our school and can get the students sick. Our environment in school also has no respect for plant life inside and outside of school. We wanted this to change.
Our project was to make a garden in our school. Over the course of six months we were at work. Over the weekend, on Saturdays we held meetings to talk about our project, how we will present it to our school, and how much of an affect it would have on our school.
On Saturdays, Luna’s dad was there to help us build the planters for our flowers and vegetables. The first week Luna’s dad was showing how to use the saw, power drill, and other hand-held tools to make our planters. While we were making planters, we had a lot of fun because we learned how to use tools that we had never used - power saws, drills, and more. We got our seeds and now our garden has carrots, herbs, tomatoes, milkweed (with the help of Ms. Bredeson), and different trees. We even planted blueberry bushes on the sides of two peaceful benches.
Overall, our whole experience in GBLA is something special and something we would never forget. We have countless happy moments such as birthday parties and celebrations of milestones we reached. We hope that future generations of GBLA will find happiness in this group as much as we did, and we hope RMMS enjoys the garden for years to come.
Team Events:
First Meeting
Our first official team meeting for Girls Build LA was on September 15 in the school library with Ms.White, our 8th grade science teacher and Ms.Cliffe, our 7th grade science teacher. At our meeting we gathered ideas to brainstorm for our application video and at this point we decided to focus on Health and Wellness.
Documentary Screening “Can You Dig This”
Our team scheduled a meeting in our school on Saturday, February 24 to watch a documentary called “Can You Dig This.” The purpose of watching the documentary was to get ideas of how to build the garden in our school. We wanted to get inspired by incredible people and how to start our garden. In South Los Angeles incredible and creative people start gardens on the streets or abandoned places. Furthermore, when the plants were ready some of the people sold them or let the people they didn’t even know take them. The reason they started gardens is because they wanted to change their lives and others in their community, to avoid using drugs and getting involved in violence.
P.S. - watch this documentary, it was awesome!
Art Club Collaboration
On March 2nd we collaborated with the Art Club to create birdhouses for our garden. We assembled the birdhouses out of wood, painted them, and then placed them around our future garden location to beautify the turf.
Garden Grand Opening
Our main event was our Garden Grand Opening on April 27, 2018. We had many, different stations where students could learn about Girls Build LA and our project. We had a game area where we played with water balloons and a station where students could make their own planter out of a water bottle, there was also a section where students got to learn about our project/suggestions, and we gave garden grams to the students who bought them. The garden grams were a way to cover the cost for some of the materials. We made garden grams so students can also help with our garden and feel part of the garden.
GBLA Leadership Summit
In December, we attended the Leadership Summit with GBLA teams from across the city. This event was fun because we got to hear from Hillary Clinton - she is an example of a strong woman who inspires us. She knows how it is to be treated differently, so we were excited to hear her speak. We also had fun dancing with the music and seeing all of the artwork. Our team left the event feeling inspired.
First Meeting
Our first official team meeting for Girls Build LA was on September 15 in the school library with Ms.White, our 8th grade science teacher and Ms.Cliffe, our 7th grade science teacher. At our meeting we gathered ideas to brainstorm for our application video and at this point we decided to focus on Health and Wellness.
Documentary Screening “Can You Dig This”
Our team scheduled a meeting in our school on Saturday, February 24 to watch a documentary called “Can You Dig This.” The purpose of watching the documentary was to get ideas of how to build the garden in our school. We wanted to get inspired by incredible people and how to start our garden. In South Los Angeles incredible and creative people start gardens on the streets or abandoned places. Furthermore, when the plants were ready some of the people sold them or let the people they didn’t even know take them. The reason they started gardens is because they wanted to change their lives and others in their community, to avoid using drugs and getting involved in violence.
P.S. - watch this documentary, it was awesome!
Art Club Collaboration
On March 2nd we collaborated with the Art Club to create birdhouses for our garden. We assembled the birdhouses out of wood, painted them, and then placed them around our future garden location to beautify the turf.
Garden Grand Opening
Our main event was our Garden Grand Opening on April 27, 2018. We had many, different stations where students could learn about Girls Build LA and our project. We had a game area where we played with water balloons and a station where students could make their own planter out of a water bottle, there was also a section where students got to learn about our project/suggestions, and we gave garden grams to the students who bought them. The garden grams were a way to cover the cost for some of the materials. We made garden grams so students can also help with our garden and feel part of the garden.
GBLA Leadership Summit
In December, we attended the Leadership Summit with GBLA teams from across the city. This event was fun because we got to hear from Hillary Clinton - she is an example of a strong woman who inspires us. She knows how it is to be treated differently, so we were excited to hear her speak. We also had fun dancing with the music and seeing all of the artwork. Our team left the event feeling inspired.
project_planner_overall.pdf |
Budgets
Below are the initial proposed budget, and the final budget.
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Check out our progress on our Instagram page! @richardmerkin