We’re thankful for the hundreds of volunteers that support our organization each year. Some come from thousands of miles away and dedicate part of their vacation to helping our community; others live just around the corner and volunteer every month.
Volunteer Highlights from 2016
From painting signs to pulling weeds to assembling planting beds, our volunteers are always willing to help in every way needed. Here are some highlights from 2016.
Pulling weeds in the kalo patch is part of the fun at Kihei Elementary School.Visiting Volunteers make soil sifters.Volunteers at Kihei Charter School move tubes of irrigation line.Volunteers at Kahului Elementary School prepare the soil for planting.Volunteer Connie ties string around the ipu to prepare it for hanging.Two student volunteers hang ipu to dry.Volunteers on Vacation help move some soil at Lokelani Intermediate School.Prepping veggies for a Harvest Party at Kamali’i Elementary School.Volunteers put the framework in place for growing beds at Kahului Elementary School.Keiki volunteers add soil amendments at Kahului Elementary School.Look what I found while pulling weeds!Putting in pretty new raised beds at Pu’u Kukui Elementary School.Pu’u Kukui Elementary School garden looks amazing after a recent Work & Learn Day!Two of our favorite volunteers – Executive Director Kathy Becklin (R) and Kihei School Garden Coordinator Nadine Rasmussen (L) help out at Lokelani Intermediate School.
A very special mahalo to all of our wonderful volunteers!
If you are interested in volunteering with Grow Some Good, contact Cynthia at Volunteer@GrowSomeGood.org for more information.
Kahului Elementary School’s 1st grade garden classes recently did Garden Scavenger Hunts as a fun way to review the lessons they have learned so far this year:
Identifying the parts of the plant: flower, stem, leaves, roots and their purpose
Recognizing our insect and bug friends in the garden, and where to find them.
Using our five senses to discover sounds, smells, textures and colors (and tastes!) in the garden.
Understanding what “weeds” are, how to identify and remove them. (If in doubt, don’t pull it out!)
Scavenger Hunt List
Each pair of students was given a collection box courtesy of Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods containing a “checklist,” scissors and a “bug cup” with instructions to collect the following:
A flower.
A bug, insect or worm.
Two weeds – one per student.
Something that smells/stinky.
A heart-shaped leaf.
Looking for Insects
Clipping a heart-shaped leaf.
Looking for Weeds.
What they Found
Marigolds provided lots of flowers; students hunted down ants, sow bugs and worms, and weeds were easy to come by. “Smelly” items included the lemon, Thai or Italian green basil, green onions, sage, lemongrass or rosemary which all have strong smells. One student insisted the flower of the marigold was sufficiently smelly to qualify! ʻUala (sweet potato) was the first choice for a heart-shaped leaf, but the beans and squash plants lost a few leaves too!
Getting Checked
The Garden Educator “checked” the items for the first pair of students to complete the scavenger hunt. Subsequent pairs of students were “checked” by classmates. This is where the real learning came in as they questioned each other as to whether or not a plant “smelled” enough, whether a leaf was “heart-shaped” enough, and whether or not the top of a weed counted or, “Does it need to have the roots attached?”
Demonstrating cooperation in the garden.
Garden Literacy
During after-activity follow-up questions with students it was clear all had improved their garden literacy and ability to identity and describe what they had found, as well as added new words to their vocabularies. Some students also learned that keeping an ant in a cup has its challenges.
