Please enjoy this video that explains the program and what we accomplished this year.
http://video214.com/play/M5tL6WVd2ra6sESB6242jg/s/dark
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Farewell
Since 2009, The Harris Community Garden has existed to build a bridge between our school and its community. We are so grateful that it is doing that in so many ways, thanks to support of you. With this excitement also comes a new change – both Lacey Trevino and I will no longer be directing the program, as we are both pursuing new opportunities. It is truly the end of an era, but one that will hopefully only strengthen the vision we set forth upon creation of the program. We worked diligently to create an infrastructure that would allow for sustainability for years to come, and you, the supporters, are a part of that. We sincerely hope you will continue to be a part of this program.Harris Community Garden Supporters,
We are grateful for the memories created in what we consider to be one of the most unique educational spaces around, and thank you so much for all of the support in making this dynamic space what it is today.
Lacey Trevino and Loryn Windwehen
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Garden Shirts $5
We are selling our shirts to close out for the year! Minimum $5 donation for all garden shirts designed by Harris Students and Teachers.
Checks payable to Harris Middle School. Please email lwindw@neisd.net to arrange pick up of your shirt(s).
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Harris to Host Greenhouse GRAND Opening
We will have a Grand Opening to showcase our beautiful greenhouse this Thursday at 4:15pm! RSVP to lwindw@neisd.net if you can attend!
Details attached on flier.
linked here.
Details attached on flier.
linked here.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Summer crops maintenance needed
Each summer, the garden searches for volunteers to help maintain the Harris Garden. I can’t believe it is that time again!
Because we have drip irrigation being installed, things will be much easier to manage, but we will still need some people to come harvest vegetables, water plants in the greenhouse, and check to see that things are being properly irrigated and just to keep extra eyes on the place when there is little activity. It is a great way to get some free delicious organic tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and green beans.
It will be used for various classes throughout the summer, and we hope to maintain it as best as we can so we don’t return to a jungle for the kids and I to have to rebuild again.
If you’re able to even help for one day this summer, email me and I will add you to the calendar and update it as I get volunteers. We need help starting in June all the way through August. The calendar is located here:
http://www.harriscommunitygarden.com/2015/03/calendar-of-events.html.
If you don’t know much about gardening, that is OK. We can teach you.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
HCG Needs Volunteers to Weed and Spread Mulch
Harris Community Garden is looking for volunteers to spread mulch and remove unwanted grass from the teaching beds.
Please contact lwindw@neisd.net if you can help at your convenience!
Please contact lwindw@neisd.net if you can help at your convenience!
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
HCG is a Certified Monarch Waystation!
The Harris Community Garden is proud to announce that it is a Certified Monarch Waystation.
"Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration. Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers these fall migratory monarch butterflies would be unable to make their long journey to overwintering grounds in Mexico. The need for host plants for larvae and energy sources for adults applies to all monarch and butterfly populations around the world."
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Volunteers Needed to Spread Mulch and De-Weed Beds
Parents and community members,
We need your help spreading mulch in the garden and de-weeding some flower beds. All the rain is such a blessing, but the weeds are coming back with a vengeance. If you can help at any time that is convenient for you, please email lwindw@neisd.net.
Also, we are in need of small planting containers (4 inch plastic pots).. LOTS of them.. if you know of anyone that has any or are willing to ask companies for donations, please contact us!
We need your help spreading mulch in the garden and de-weeding some flower beds. All the rain is such a blessing, but the weeds are coming back with a vengeance. If you can help at any time that is convenient for you, please email lwindw@neisd.net.
Also, we are in need of small planting containers (4 inch plastic pots).. LOTS of them.. if you know of anyone that has any or are willing to ask companies for donations, please contact us!
Monday, April 6, 2015
Thank you to San Antonio Fire Department, Engine 19!
We could not be more grateful for the volunteerism displayed by Mr. Davila and his team! They spent a considerable amount of time assembling two 80 gallon composters for us, transporting them to the school, and then came up to our school to make sure they were positioned perfectly in the garden.
Enjoy some photos of this huge task they completed for our students!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Thank you to our Business Partner of the Month, Vulcan!!!
Vulcan materials has been a consistent supporter in so many ways to Harris Middle School, but this month we are giving them a special thanks from the Harris Middle School Community Garden. They donated enough funds to sustain us for an entire month, and we could not be more grateful. Thank you, Vulcan!
http://www.vulcanmaterials.com
http://www.vulcanmaterials.com
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Farmer's Market/Plant Sale on Monday, March 30th at 3:45 pm
We will be having a Farmer's Market/Plant Sale on Monday, March 30th at 3:45-4:00pm in the Harris Garden. It sells out very quickly, so get there as soon as you can! (No holds)
Romaine lettuce, Swiss Chard, Cabbage, and Broccoli will be sold for minimum $3.00 donations. Bedding Plants - $1, and various other plants/terrariums will be sold for $5-10.
Fertilizer will be sold for $5.00/half gallon.
Cash or checks payable to Harris Middle School.
Harris Garden Involves KINS Program in Gardening
The Harris Garden welcomed about 20 students outside to tour the garden and explain the opportunities they had to be involved in such an incredible space.
They also replanted the beds at the front entrance to the school to prepare for our Wellness Fair.
They did a great job, and are excited about more ways they can learn outside.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Harris Garden Installs Gutters on Greenhouse
The Harris Greenhouse installed its gutters today! Now, we can catch rain water!! 
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Help needed this Saturday
We are in need of help this Saturday to get our garden prepared for Spring.
I need lead volunteers; please email me if you can help. Lwindw@neisd.net
Terrariums for sale $8!
The students made terrariums to sell for Friday night's plant sale.
They are 8 dollars and will help support the garden.
No pre-sales, so come to the plant sale this Friday from 5-7pm during the Welness Festival!
Saturday, March 21, 2015
About the Green Team
The Green Team was founded on the notion that students could be a part of positive societal change. Windwehen took her AIM class (like a study hall class), and turned them into environmentalists.
Daily, they not only manage the garden, but some of the many things they learn are: propagation techniques, plant nutrition requirements, composting techniques, greenhouse management, irrigation techniques, and floral and horticulture plant identification. They learn by doing and serving, or experiential learning. From harvesting vegetables for their teachers and families to teaching community members how to garden, this group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are no everyday team.
Daily, they not only manage the garden, but some of the many things they learn are: propagation techniques, plant nutrition requirements, composting techniques, greenhouse management, irrigation techniques, and floral and horticulture plant identification. They learn by doing and serving, or experiential learning. From harvesting vegetables for their teachers and families to teaching community members how to garden, this group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are no everyday team.
After 5 full years of success with the Green Team, she was able to turn the course into one that will allow students to earn high school credit, and set them up for a successful future in environmental and horticultural science.
She teaches this class in one of her seven periods each day, but during these 45 minutes, they do more good than most can comprehend.
They are positive change makers, environmental leaders, peer teachers, and are learning science in the most extraordinary ways.
 |
| Original Green Team, 2010 |
 |
| Current Green Team |
About the Garden
The Harris Middle School Community Garden was created in 2009 by two teachers, Lacey Trevino and Loryn Windwehen. Behind the school was a barren field of Bermuda grass and dirt surrounded by a wooded nature area of Oak and Juniper Trees and other native shrubs.
Trevino, a phenomenal art teacher, saw the potential the space had, and applied for a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant in the amount of $5,000. With this seed grant and many, many community donors as well as district support, a fence was installed around the area, and a nature area was preserved and structured in order to allow for one of the most impressive natural spaces in the entire county.
 |
| Approx 2010 |
After an architect drew up the plans for the space, NEISD maintenance and engineering constructed the area, leaving behind an empty landscape. All that was missing were students and plants.
 |
| Current |
Every plant in the ground was put in by the Green Team students, and since then, they have turned a blank space into an area with native trees, blooming plants, 2 large vegetable growing areas, 2 sheds, a hydroponic growing system, a native trail, a composting area, and a greenhouse.
The area is home to students, teachers, and community members. Students have become leaders, teaching each other, their parents, their teachers, and community members. Community ed classes and parent/student classes are held where all individuals are learning from one another. In many cases, before they enter our program, they have little to no horticultural knowledge, and leave inspired to make environmental change.
Together, Trevino and Windwehen estimate that over $120,000 in grants, monetary and physical donations have been put into the program, averaging about $20,000/year.
Trevino and Windwehen have worked together to bring a tremendous amount of positive attention to the school, and their most recent accomplishment is being awarded $20,000 from the San Antonio Spurs to install a greenhouse.
Trevino and Windwehen have worked together to bring a tremendous amount of positive attention to the school, and their most recent accomplishment is being awarded $20,000 from the San Antonio Spurs to install a greenhouse.
It is truly one of the most unique educational spaces in all of education, and one that hasn't come about easily.
Currently, they are working tirelessly to complete the installation of the greenhouse complex, and once this is complete will begin sharing their success with others.
About the Founders
Lacey Trevino, Director and Founder of Harris Middle School Community Garden
Art Teacher
Fine Arts Department Chair
Lacey Treviño is an art teacher at Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. It is her philosophy that the most successful people are those who can take a creative approach to problem solving. As a middle school art teacher, she is not trying to train the future artists of the world, but is trying to plant creativity as a backbone in their lives. She believes that future artists are only a perk.
One of the ways that she has planted creativity is in the vision, foundation, and growth of the Harris Middle School Community Garden, a project she started in 2009. Treviño is not only known for this, but also the numerous awards her art students and she has earned. This phenomenal educator, in under 13 years, has won more awards than most educators in America. Just to name a few, she was the recipient of: The Team Up Challenge Contest, winning a total of $22,500 for her school; the HEB Trust for Teacher Excellence Award; The National Doodle for Google Student Winner, earning $25,000 for her school; the Lowes Toolbox for Education Grant which started the garden at Harris, The National Gold Seal Scholastic Student Winner, and was the 2013 Harris Middle School Trinity Prize Winner as well as the NEISD Overall Trinity Prize Winner in of Excellence in Education. She is a leader among her peers and known for creating wonderful relationships with students.
In addition to being the co-founder of the garden, she continues to write grants, win awards in all areas of her practice, and empower and equip her students to reach their creative potential. In fact, she alone has won over $100,000 in monetary grants and awards to not only facilitate the groundbreaking of the Harris Garden but to add innovative technologies to her art department. She has put Harris Middle School and NEISD on the map on more than one occasion. She is a passionate educator with extraordinary talent, and consistently goes above and beyond in all that she does in life.
One of the ways that she has planted creativity is in the vision, foundation, and growth of the Harris Middle School Community Garden, a project she started in 2009. Treviño is not only known for this, but also the numerous awards her art students and she has earned. This phenomenal educator, in under 13 years, has won more awards than most educators in America. Just to name a few, she was the recipient of: The Team Up Challenge Contest, winning a total of $22,500 for her school; the HEB Trust for Teacher Excellence Award; The National Doodle for Google Student Winner, earning $25,000 for her school; the Lowes Toolbox for Education Grant which started the garden at Harris, The National Gold Seal Scholastic Student Winner, and was the 2013 Harris Middle School Trinity Prize Winner as well as the NEISD Overall Trinity Prize Winner in of Excellence in Education. She is a leader among her peers and known for creating wonderful relationships with students.
In addition to being the co-founder of the garden, she continues to write grants, win awards in all areas of her practice, and empower and equip her students to reach their creative potential. In fact, she alone has won over $100,000 in monetary grants and awards to not only facilitate the groundbreaking of the Harris Garden but to add innovative technologies to her art department. She has put Harris Middle School and NEISD on the map on more than one occasion. She is a passionate educator with extraordinary talent, and consistently goes above and beyond in all that she does in life.
Loryn Windwehen, Director and Founder of the Harris Middle School Community Garden
7th Grade Science Teacher
Green Team Founder and Teacher
Loryn Windwehen is a 7th grade science teacher at Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. She has been teaching for seven years and her passion and love for her career continue to grow. Creating engaging curriculum and meaningful relationships, while being a leader to her peers, are at the forefront of her priorities as an educator. Windwehen was named the 2012 Overall Teacher of the Year for NEISD, 2012 Region 20 Secondary Teacher of the Year in Texas, received the 2012 Kens5 ExCel Award for Excellence in Education, known as the “Golden Apple Award” for teachers, and was a 2012 state finalist in the HEB Excellence in Education Awards under the Rising Star category.
In addition, she has been selected for numerous National fellowships including one in partnership with the National Institute for Standards in Technology in Washington, D.C.; one of seven “America’s Teachers” at the I/ITSEC Conference in Orlando, Florida – a conference on modeling and simulation in conjunction with the US Military; as well as a competitive fellowship sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association. She was one of 38 educators in the nation selected to travel to Brazil as the representative for the state of Texas as a part of the NEA-Pearson Global Fellowship Program, and most recently was chosen as the only teacher to represent Texas in the competitive fellowship, America Achieves Fellowship of Teachers and Principals. She is the co-founder of the Harris Middle School Community Garden and the founder of the Harris Middle School Green Team, an elective class she teaches daily.
She and her students worked together with Trevino to win a total of $22,500 dollars as Team Up Challenge Champions. With this, they have installed a greenhouse facility and rainwater harvesting tank for the students and community to use. She is excited about all the ways she can use the entire garden facility and continues to build it's impact more each day. Her primary purpose is to enable her students to be societal leaders, motivated to make positive environmental change while always giving back to others.
Trevino and Windwehen are so grateful for the professional working experience that they have been given, and the opportunity to build on each others' gifts and share those with their students, co-workers, parents, and community members. It is estimated that together, they have raised and won over $120,000 to make the Harris Garden what it is today. The garden's funding has come from external sources outside of the campus due to their determination to keep it running; despite the financial deficits the educational world sees.
Their desire to impact change, better their profession, and promote positivity in education is infectious, and the synergy in their collaborative relationship is a rare find in this profession. What is best for kids and has always been their primary focus, and they have stopped at nothing to see that their vision is being implemented fully. They've often been called "The Dynamic Duo," and have had the time of their lives creating one of the most unique educational spaces in all of education.
Loryn Windwehen is a 7th grade science teacher at Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. She has been teaching for seven years and her passion and love for her career continue to grow. Creating engaging curriculum and meaningful relationships, while being a leader to her peers, are at the forefront of her priorities as an educator. Windwehen was named the 2012 Overall Teacher of the Year for NEISD, 2012 Region 20 Secondary Teacher of the Year in Texas, received the 2012 Kens5 ExCel Award for Excellence in Education, known as the “Golden Apple Award” for teachers, and was a 2012 state finalist in the HEB Excellence in Education Awards under the Rising Star category.
In addition, she has been selected for numerous National fellowships including one in partnership with the National Institute for Standards in Technology in Washington, D.C.; one of seven “America’s Teachers” at the I/ITSEC Conference in Orlando, Florida – a conference on modeling and simulation in conjunction with the US Military; as well as a competitive fellowship sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association. She was one of 38 educators in the nation selected to travel to Brazil as the representative for the state of Texas as a part of the NEA-Pearson Global Fellowship Program, and most recently was chosen as the only teacher to represent Texas in the competitive fellowship, America Achieves Fellowship of Teachers and Principals. She is the co-founder of the Harris Middle School Community Garden and the founder of the Harris Middle School Green Team, an elective class she teaches daily.
She and her students worked together with Trevino to win a total of $22,500 dollars as Team Up Challenge Champions. With this, they have installed a greenhouse facility and rainwater harvesting tank for the students and community to use. She is excited about all the ways she can use the entire garden facility and continues to build it's impact more each day. Her primary purpose is to enable her students to be societal leaders, motivated to make positive environmental change while always giving back to others.
Trevino and Windwehen are so grateful for the professional working experience that they have been given, and the opportunity to build on each others' gifts and share those with their students, co-workers, parents, and community members. It is estimated that together, they have raised and won over $120,000 to make the Harris Garden what it is today. The garden's funding has come from external sources outside of the campus due to their determination to keep it running; despite the financial deficits the educational world sees.
Their desire to impact change, better their profession, and promote positivity in education is infectious, and the synergy in their collaborative relationship is a rare find in this profession. What is best for kids and has always been their primary focus, and they have stopped at nothing to see that their vision is being implemented fully. They've often been called "The Dynamic Duo," and have had the time of their lives creating one of the most unique educational spaces in all of education.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
We need your help sharing and coming to our events!
Harris Community Garden Supporters,
We have been working so hard all year to prepare for our Spring events and they are finally here!
We need your help - please share this link (here is the link to the flyer to print and share Spring 2015 Events), our Facebook post at Harris Middle School Community Garden, or forward this email!
Just this week, we have our first community ed class - "How to Create a Spring Garden," where students of all ages can leave with all the knowledge and even some plants to prepare a Spring garden! Sign up here
The class will be taught by Ms. Windwehen and the Students of the Harris Green Team
Then, on Friday, our first Seeds of Change Meeting - see post below, and ....
Saturday, 3.21 from 8:30-11:30 is our annual cleanup! We need lead volunteers to help us with projects on this day - (spreading limestone rock, building a fence, replanting our succulent bed, re-mulching the native area, and garden trails, etc.).
Please email lwindw@neisd.net if you can help, and thank you so much for sharing!!!
We have been working so hard all year to prepare for our Spring events and they are finally here!
We need your help - please share this link (here is the link to the flyer to print and share Spring 2015 Events), our Facebook post at Harris Middle School Community Garden, or forward this email!
Just this week, we have our first community ed class - "How to Create a Spring Garden," where students of all ages can leave with all the knowledge and even some plants to prepare a Spring garden! Sign up here
The class will be taught by Ms. Windwehen and the Students of the Harris Green Team
Then, on Friday, our first Seeds of Change Meeting - see post below, and ....
Saturday, 3.21 from 8:30-11:30 is our annual cleanup! We need lead volunteers to help us with projects on this day - (spreading limestone rock, building a fence, replanting our succulent bed, re-mulching the native area, and garden trails, etc.).
Please email lwindw@neisd.net if you can help, and thank you so much for sharing!!!
Saturday, March 14, 2015
HCG Presents Seeds of Change!
What: Seeds of Change is an organization made up of students, parents, teachers, and community members who desire to promote environmental and horticultural sciences through peer service and education.
Who: Students of 3rd-12th grade* may attend, but MUST have their parent accompany them. Students without their parent with them will not be permitted.
*Harris Middle School Staff Members may bring any age student to the event, but also have to attend with their child.
*Harris Middle School Staff Members may bring any age student to the event, but also have to attend with their child.
Where: Harris Middle School Community Garden - enter through the front doors of HMS, and go to the back of the school past the fine arts wing.
When: 4pm-5pm on 3.20, 4.10, 4.24, and 5.22
How: RSVP to lwindw@neisd.net or complete this form: RSVP HERE!!!! VERY limited spots available, so sign up and hold to your reservation! The form will close once we have reached our cap.
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