One of the West Georgia Chapter’s goals is community education, and our efforts are led by Education Co-Directors Diane Rooks and Ann Ethridge. Some of their many past projects include Camp Dirty Knees, the native plant garden at Neva Lomason Library, and the bee garden at Central Elementary School.

Diane, together with Carol Hight and Beth Chance, recently participated in an outdoor learning professional development workshop at the University of West Georgia for area STEM teachers. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.)  The three West Georgia Chapter members led a session titled “Green Thumb: Cultivating Schoolyard Gardens and Soil Science.” They presented steps and suggestions for creating and maintaining school gardens, and they instructed participants on soil sampling, soil amendments, and soil mixtures for various types of plants. They stressed the importance of including plants that bloom at various times in order to have a continuous source for pollinators from early spring until frost. The teachers then had an opportunity to create their own soil mixture and pot up some plants for their gardens. Carol provided participants with plants from her propagation nursery that will bloom in spring, summer, and fall. The chapter volunteers also presented a short version of a program that they take to schools, titled “You like to Eat, Don’t You?”  This presentation shows the importance of pollinators for food production.

Events like this one are a wonderful opportunity to get our message out to educators and the children they teach.  If you’re a chapter member and would like to help with educational programs for community groups, please send an email to info_westgeorgia@gnps.org and let us know that you’d like to join the education team.