We are inspired by our Mount Vernon Community of students, families, and staff who are showing great resilience, determination, and creativity to stay connected with one another and to support student learning. Their efforts to continue to make Every Day Count during this unprecedented time are amazing! Teaching & Learning staff are excited to share resources and ideas for staying connected and supporting student learning. Students are likely to hear from their classmates, teachers, and school sites with ways to stay engaged. Maintaining our sense of community supports our social-emotional health and will help each of us to remain engaged in learning. We hope you engage with and enjoy the ideas we post on our Every Day Counts! student learning blog. Stay tuned--we plan to begin posting on Monday, March 23rd! Many of the resources we will be sharing are available to all students via the MV TECHSMART K-12 DIGITAL LITERACY site.


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

4-22-2020 Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!  Today, our little bit of the earth is getting some welcome rain.  Rain is what keeps this beautiful place so green and bountiful.  On this 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, there are many ways to celebrate, care for the earth and learn more about our amazing planet.

One fun thing to do is to explore some of the amazing places here on Earth via webcams.  I found this great site called Exlpore.org that shares webcams from around the world.  I hope to one day be able to go photograph the bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska.  But for now, I can watch a highlight from the webcam from last summer and see the bears catching their lunch.


After watching some of the amazing webcams from our beautiful earth, I am sure you are going to want to do something to help protect our beautiful planet.

Celebrate Earth Day by appreciating and respecting the natural world. Here are some ideas to inspire you! (These ideas are shared with even more information the Old Farmer's Almanac website. )
  1. Support our native bees:  The super-pollinators of the garden are … native bees! Learn more about these amazing heroes of pollination—and see how to make a native bee house (much like a bird house!). See how to make a bee-friendly garden habitat.
  2. Recycle and repurpose! Gardening needn’t be expensive. See ideas on recycling and repurposing garden items to make something out of nothing—and save money! We also have ideas on how to reuse in the kitchen and in the home and re-purpose everyday household items!
  3. Plant wildflowers! We’ll show you how to grow wildflowers in your garden for the pollinators—and to lift your spirits, too! Also, see our guide on choosing wildflower varieties which will thrive where you live. 
  4. Reduce plastic dependency: Plastic permeates every aspect of our lives, including the garden. But as the world wakes up to its addiction, just how easy is it to ditch plastic while growing and storing more of our own food? See our ideas on how to garden without plastic. Don’t forget to recycle what plastic you can. See a Plastics Recycling Chart. And also, know what’s in all those bottled drinks!
  5. Go native! Plants thrive best when they’re natural to your area. See our article on native plant landscaping and 10 tips for an eco-friendly garden.
  6. Bring nature into the garden with plants that attract butterflies and plants that attract hummingbirds!
  7. Start an organic vegetable garden. Here are tips on organic seed-starting, and our Beginner’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening to get you started.
  8. Conserve water! See our tips for watering wisely in the garden and tips on how to create your own rain garden. Also, avoid over-watering. Know how much your garden really needs with our watering chart! Watch our video demonstrating 10 smart watering tips for a healthy garden garden.
  9. Plant more trees! Talk to your local government about planting more trees and native garden beds in public spaces, or consider planting your own on your property! See advice on how to plant a tree as well a our video demonstrating how to plant a fruit tree.
  10. Get kids involved! Pass down a love of nature and plants with kids. See our ideas on gardening with kids and also 6 simple kids’ planting activities from the Kids Almanac
Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning


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