News Release
September 8, 2006
Old Friends, New Neighbors, and a School Community with Heart Create a Home For Urban Wildlife at McKinley-Thatcher
On September 9, 2006 McKinley-Thatcher Elementary School families and volunteers from the McStain Neighborhoods will join hands and pick up shovels to install over $7000 of new plant and landscape materials to create a new, wildlife-friendly habitat and beautiful entrance to the school.
The seed of this project was planted last year by fourth grade teacher, Dr. Judith Girard, who collaborated with landscape architect and McKinley-Thatcher parent, Tom Jump, owner of Jump Design, to help students explore ways a school could grow greener grounds to attract and support urban wildlife. Mr. Jump and the 4th graders visited the Denver Botanic Gardens and several schools in DPS to study different elements of landscape design. The students' ideas and favorite landscape elements were incorporated into a landscape design by Mr. Jump to reflect the school's ongoing commitment to environmental education and stewardship. Eight years ago McKinley-Thatcher became the pilot school for the SPREE (South Platte Environmental Education) Program, and since that time the school has continued to add additional opportunities for students to connect with nature through participation with the Thorne Ecological Institute, the Audubon Society, the Wildlife Federation and the Denver Zoo.
With a beautiful landscape design in hand, the school was challenged with finding the resources to put the design in place. Scott and Barbara Ascherman, owners of Designscapes and a respected DPS contractor redoing the school's parking over the summer, generously donated $7200 of consultation services, labor and materials, to complete the sod removal, prepare the beds for planting, install the irrigation system and position the red granite boulders. This got the project rolling and soon more help was on the way. The PTA donated funds to purchase two trees and the boulders and rock, which were purchased at Jenson's Sales Company at reduced prices with no delivery charges.
McStain Neighborhoods, the homebuilders currently building 44 two family homes just a block from McKinley-Thatcher, have been both a generous neighbor and a motivating force behind realizing the completion of this project. McStain Neighborhoods, in their 40th year of home building, has declared this year as a year of giving, and the company and employees have completed many volunteer projects this year. As part of their giving campaign, McStain Neighborhoods has donated $2600 in plant materials to McKinley-Thatcher's landscape project and has organized a group of McStain volunteers to help install the plants.
An additional challenge for the school came when the cost of landscaping materials exceeded donations. McKinley-Thatcher families, friends and PTA responded to this challenge by contributing over $3000 to an Adopt-a-Tree Program, enabling the school to purchase all fourteen trees planned for the landscape design.
The McKinley-Thatcher School Community gratefully acknowledges the contributions of all the generous people who have made the completion of this project possible. Following the September 9 "Planting Party", McStain and McKinley volunteers will enjoy a luncheon hosted by McStain Neighborhoods at the McStain Neighborhoods Discovery Center on Pearl Street. A school wide ribbon cutting ceremony is being planned for later in September to honor the efforts of all who have contributed to the completion of the landscape project.