Gardens

REDEEMER NATURE GARDENS AT-A-GLANCE

Follow our daily activities at: http://redeemernaturegardens.blogspot.com/

Contents:

·         Butterfly Garden (3,500 s.f.)

·         Classroom Vegetable Gardens (260 s.f.)

·         Meals On Wheels Herb Gardens (288 s.f.)

·         Church Color Gardens (300 s.f.)

·         Gazebo Memorial Garden (Preschool nature area) (900 s.f.)

·         Bird Sanctuary (490 s.f.)

·         ‘The Land Down Under’, wildflower wetland (10,000 s.f.)

·         Prayer Garden (800 s.f.)

·         Outdoor Classroom (1,000 s.f.)

Programs:
Educational

·         The “Rainbow Room”, Redeemer’s science enrichment program, combines outdoor classrooms and multi-disciplinary, hands-on activities that integrate science and nature across the school curriculum.  For all students 4 years old through the 5^th grade, the Rainbow Room utilizes materials from GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science), the Junior Master Gardner Program, Project WILD, the Audubon Society, and other quality teaching resources.

·         Students support our school's lunch program by composting organic waste from the Cafeteria and provide herbs and vegetables.

·         Garden Club, Junior Master Gardeners and (in development) 4-H.

·         The middle school elective, EcoHeroes, developed and maintains our church and school facility's single-stream recycling efforts.

Community

·         Research on student involvement in the Nature Gardens are part of the 33 year study University of Texas Play and Playgrounds Research Project, designed and conducted by
Dr. Joe Frost, international expert on child development and the importance of play. 

·         21 Boy Scouts have received Eagle Scout credentials through Nature Gardens projects.

·         Active in development of the Wooten Nature Playground, the first nature playground to be constructed in Austin, TX.

·         Our children grow all the fresh herbs for Austin Area Meals On Wheels.

·         Students participate as 'citizen scientists' in programs such as MonarchWatch, Smithsonian Tree Monitoring Project, JourneyNorth, and Green Ribbon Schools.
     
 Recognition, Grants,and Awards:           
Redeemer’s environmental education program is financially self-supporting. A partial list includes:

·         Environmental Excellence Award from SeaWorld, BuschGardens and FujiFilm

·         Schoolyard Habitat designation from the National Wildlife Federation

·         Junior Master Gardener Group of the Year

·         Best of Texas Backyard Habitat – Texas Department of Wildlife.

·         Finalist, Texas Environmental Excellence Award

·         IBM support

·         Dell Community Grant

·         Best Buy Grant

·         Community Hospital Foundation

·         Youth Garden Grants from the National Gardening Association

·         Thrivant for Lutherans

Books, Newspapers, Television

·         On the Porch with Jim Swift KXAN Channel 36 FOX

·         Central Texas Gardener KLRU PBS television

·         Austin American Statesman, “These Children Have Growing Enthusiasm for Meals On Wheels”,
       Dec. 1, 2004

·         West Austin News, “Award-winning Teacher Grows Plants, Helps Kids Blossom”,  Sept. 1, 2005

·         Photographed in The Developmental Benefits of Playgrounds, by Dr. Joe Frost, with
      Pei-San Brown, Candra Thornton, & John Sutterby. (2004)

·         Austin American Statesman, Jun 10, 2006

·         Clifford Magazine, feature article April 2009, Scholastics Inc.

Teacher:
Danna Keyburn, Redeemer School’s environmental education teacher. 
Initiated the Redeemer Nature Gardens project, designed and managed the construction of the outdoor learning areas, and teaches 320 4-year-old through 5^th grade children. 
Awards
      2005 Marva Beck Junior Master Gardener Teacher of the Year
      2008 John Ahrns Environmental Educator of the Year awarded by the Austin Children in 

                        Nature  Community
            Publications
            Notes From the Land Down Under: Transforming a Sterile Schoolyard Into a Nature
                  and Play Wonderland.  Joe L Frost, Danna Keyburn, & John Suttersby.
                  Published by the Jane Goodall Foundation.

dkeyburn@redeemer.net
Redeemer Lutheran School
1500 W. Anderson Lane, Austin, TX  78757

(512) 451-6478