Focus on TUSD - November 2007

New Beginnings at Kellond
Children's Plantings Add Color and Life to Campus
Every day, Kellond Elementary School students take a field trip without leaving their campus.

They visit a trio of planter boxes in their courtyard, checking the progress of the flowers, vegetables and fruit the pre-kindergarten classes planted in boxes last month during an improvement project organized by the United Way. They call it their Community School Garden.

Hands gripping the side of one box, Noah Embry and Jayde Rodriguez-Beans, both 4 years old, peered into the box alongside their classmates. "I planted plants and put dirt around them so they wouldn't fall down," Noah explained.

Jayde had even more to say. "We put the fake flowers in," she said. "They have to stay in the garden to make it beautiful."

But she knew the real flowers would grow, too. "They always grow with the sun on top of the flowers," she explained. "They grow all the time. They're thirsty and they need water."

The children help water and weed the plants, said Linda Musa, who has 48 students from pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade in before- and after-school programs at the school at 6606 E. Lehigh Drive.

"It was a nasty area before we did this," she said. "It was all dirt. Now the kids absolutely love it. It promotes pride in the school."

The students and the pre-kindergarten teachers, Stephanie Torres and Aracely Pacheco who each have 14 students, had plenty of help with the project. KB Homes and The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa signed up online to help United Way, which contributed a $300 grant for the resources. Lowe's Home Improvement donated the soil, parents brought beverages and snacks, and the Kellond staff and children helped set up and serve the food.

KB offered to build a playhouse in a 20-by-50-foot area bounded by a wire fence. "I'll take them up on that next year," Musa said with a smile.

But for right now, the Kellond staff is pleased with the outcome. "The children are outstanding," Torres said. "That's key for me. To take a shabby area and revitalize it and turn it into something productive is rewarding."

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

Photos in the November issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations, unless otherwise noted.

The deadline to submit material for the December Focus is Friday, Nov. 7. The Focus will be published Monday, Nov. 17. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the online Tip Sheet.