As most of you know, in my other life I am a mother of 2 little ones. My 4-year old comes up with some pretty hysterical sayings and the most recent one is, “For real Mom! For really, real life.”
Remember this quote from Monday’s Update?
We’re Achieving it! Or, as Owen would say, “For real, Compass! For really, real life.” It’s happening!
Thanks to our big outreach grants from Newman’s Own Foundation and Main Street Resources, we are able to help 6 schools build their own gardens, inspired by what they learn at The Compass Farm.
With the grant funding, we’re hiring a Compass Outreach Farmer (interviews will take place this Thursday). We already have more school’s applying than we can support – the demand is there – we’re doing this thing!
If you know a school that’s interested in building a garden with our support, remind them that the deadline is THIS COMING MONDAY and they can find out more about the opportunity on our website: http://compassschool.org/science-engagement-center/
As you know, I’m big on making sure everyone understands the WHY of our choices at Compass, so just to recap, here are the top 5 reasons WHY we launched the Science Engagement Center at The Compass School Farm and WHY we’re so excited that it’s real – for really, real life.
- Reason #5 – Charter Renewal: A new part of the charter renewal system (we get evaluated every 5 years) requires charter schools to demonstrate how they are sharing best practices with other schools.
- Reason #4 – Your Kiddo Won the Lottery: We have a pretty special thing going on at Compass, but we’re limited; only 174 students get the Compass experience each year. By partnering with other schools, we’re paying it forward and hoping to enrich the broader educational landscape with some seeds from Compass…literally 🙂
- Reason #3 – Mission Deep Dive: We’re doing a deep dive into our mission. Learning about the plight of the pollinators in the Lavender Labyrinth and Biodiversity gardens, understanding the gifts animals can offer, and tasting the delicious flavors of a tomato you’ve grown yourself …all of these experiences immerse our students in our environmental sustainability mission.
- Reason #2 – It’s all part of my master plan… 😉 Building something great and sharing it attracts big $ donors…who might then fund the barn renovation project…which helps Compass say goodbye to the modulars that we pay almost $4,000 painful dollars per month for…which lets us invest more in instructional expenses for teachers and materials…which stops Ms. Brandee’s annual budget heart attacks. 🙂
- Reason #1 – Our Compass Kids: If we build great programming to share with other schools…it means that our Compass kids get the benefit of using it right here at their own doorstep! Priceless.
Above: The Compass Farm After School Program – photo credit: Rachel Axelson
On behalf of the Compass School’s Health, Safety and Wellness committee, thank you for your ongoing support of The Science Engagement Center at The Compass School Farm!
Thank you all for leaning in to support me and our Compass Council as we work to move our special school forward with all of this important and exciting work.