We are deeply thankful for the memories we created together this year. It’s been a joyful journey full of learning, laughter, and love. We hope all our ELC families have a wonderful summer and we look forward to seeing everyone again in September!
Our last days of school together were filled with gratitude, laughter, and reflections. Last week we expressed our gratitude for our parent volunteers and ELC staff members who helped us learn and grow this year. Students carefully measured ingredients to make “cookies in a jar” for our volunteers. They created thoughtful cards with kind words to express their gratitude. We created keepsake bookmarks and said our goodbyes to our Seal and Dolphin buddy readers. This week we had popsicles and ice cream sundaes to celebrate our summer birthdays. Former Otters, Timofey and Rebecca, returned for celebratory visits and we shared some play time together. Students in the engineering center created the tallest block structure ever created in our classroom! On Monday we had water play day with the Sea Lions. We got to play at the campus volleyball courts, run through the sprinklers, and try out Pierce’s reusable water balloons. Yesterday we released our praying mantises in the pollinator garden with Mr. Mark. Students had an opportunity to gently hold these amazing creatures before releasing them to explore their new home in the garden. We are hoping that we’ll get to see some full grown mantises in the garden when we return to school in September. Today we packed up our classroom, played with shaving cream on the tables, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and created a poster of our favorite Otter memories. We also watched a slideshow of our year together and celebrated as teachers said kind words about each Otter before presenting him/her with a memory book from the year.
We’ve spent much time learning and exploring in the Brim Family Outdoor Learning Center (otherwise known as our outdoor classroom) this spring. In addition to planting, students worked individually or in partners to research a specific native plant from one of our six gardens. Students took photos of their plants, read articles, wrote expository texts and created an art piece about the plant they researched. Mr. Mark added our student writing, art, and photos to the Brim Family Outdoor Learning Center website, where people can learn about the specific plants in our gardens. Visitors to our outdoor classroom can simply scan a QR posted in the gardens to access these web pages to learn more about the native plants growing here. You can use the links below to view the newly updated pages.
Blanket Flower- Wren
Broad-Leaf Cattail- Sebastian & William
Cardinal Monkey Flower- Ava A. & Laurence
Douglas Aster- Emma & Miles
Goatsbeard- Jace & Jett
Incense Cedar- Izzek
Kinnikinnick- Luke & Rosie
Large-Leaf Lupine- Ava B.
Licorice Fern- Alexander C. & Barrett
Pacific Willow- Alex & Pierce
Salal- Addy
Wapato- Claire
Western Maidenhair Fern- Emerson & Jane
