NEISD receives classroom gardens from home depot
Two NEISD campuses were the recipients of generous donations of supplies and volunteer labor from our friends at Home Depot. They built amazing classroom gardens that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Wetmore gets huge donation from Home Depot
First grade teacher Jennifer Gearhart was tired of the same old plant lessons, and wanted to find a way to make it more meaningful for Wetmore Elementary School students.
“Our goal in developing gardens was to give the first graders at Wetmore a true living environment to explore organisms, life cycles, and interdependence among living things," said Gearhart. "By allowing them to observe, record, nurture and care for gardens, we provide a richer understanding of the concepts, with the added perk of introducing them to a healthy way of life and an opportunity to eat their very own veggies."
While shopping for ideas at her local Home Depot, she proposed the idea to a Home Depot employee. Little did she know that employee was Tim Wilkerson, Gulf Regional Manager for Home Depot! After a few e-mails, Gearhart had an appointment with DeAndre Frowner, the manager of the Sunset Road Home Depot. As a father himself, Frowner loved the idea. She left that store with a car full of seeds, greenhouse kits to get the students started, and a plan for six classroom gardens!
True to their word, Home Depot showed up at Wetmore on Tuesday, April 3 with 12 volunteers, a pallet of mulch, and two full truckloads of materials. But they went a step further, teaming up with Scotts to get two pallets of Miracle Grow Soil to fill the beds and two more volunteers! With 120 eager little helpers wearing Home Depot aprons, they got to work. Within two hours, the garden beds were complete and students were shown how to transplant their sprouts to the beds. Homer, the Home Depot mascot, encouraged them along the way.
The faculty and staff at Wetmore are in awe of the generosity of these volunteers and companies. The first grade teachers said, “There is no way we could have accomplished this on our own.” In a time of economic uncertainty, Home Depot and Scotts have proven they are fearlessly committed to giving back to the community. What a great example they set for this future generation.
Jackson Keller gets a courtyard makover courtesy of Home Depot
On Apr. 12, Jackson Keller Elementary welcomed employees from Home Depot as they created an outdoor classroom with $4,000 worth xeriscaping and benches for the school courtyard.
Jackson-Keller was awarded a Home Depot community landscaping project after Assistant Principal Diane Hall wrote a proposal for the school. The newly landscaped area will be used for an outdoor classroom, as well as a community center for their semester movie nights. The outdoor area will be utilized by the PTA for festivals, teachers focusing on Earth Day and curriculum focusing on nature, and community members coming to read to students.
Home Depot General Manager Carlos Rodriguez and a volunteer crew of 20 built 10 benches and 12 raised flower beds for the school.
Posted on April 10, 2012