Earth Day

What a great Earth Day celebration today!  The sun came out for most of the day and though it wasn't warm, it wasn't too bad either.  Every year at Wilkes Elementary school--the school my youngest attends as a third grader and my older two "graduated" from--we plant sunflower seeds on Earth Day.  It started about six years ago as an idea dreamed up by a few teachers to make the chain link fence that separates the parking lot from the play ground a little more attractive.  The planting strip measures about 18 inches wide and is probably around 150 feet long--perfect for a row of sunflowers.

I started helping with Earth Day in a small way, and enjoyed the celebration so much I decided to help plan the event.  It is such a sweet tradition and probably my favorite day in the Wilkes school year.  The energy of the day is really fun!  This week we worked together weeding the planting area and adding some compost.  And then on Friday, all seventeen classes of kids ranging in age from kindergarten through fourth grade, took turns planting sunflower seeds.  We talk about how pretty the sunflowers are when they bloom and how tall they will get.  And then we talk about what the seeds will need to grow big and strong.  And the kids love to raise their hands and share what they know.  They know that the seeds need sunlight and water and soil.  And then we talk about how important compost is and how cool it is that the seeds we are planting today came from the sunflowers of last year.  The sunflowers just keep reinventing themselves!  And just for fun we talked about how the seeds will need some love and good wishes whispered to them.  The kindergarteners accept this responsibility all too happily and I know I will see some of them talking to their seeds over the next few weeks. 

The first couple of years that we did this school wide project the kids needed some instructions.  Today, I spent only a few minutes giving them their instructions and it was mostly in the form of asking them if they remember the steps--how deep to plant the seed, the importance of compost, etc.  What has been really striking is not just that they know what to do now, but how comfortable they are with the process.  Where they used to be tentative, they now jump right in planting their seed and scooping up huge handfuls of compost.  They used to worry if they were doing it "right."  I didn't hear many of those concerns today and that made me so happy!  The kids are feeling some ownership of this process which is exactly what this is all about. 

Such a simple thing to plant a seed.  And planting a seed is exactly what is going on.  The seeds of liking to get their hands in the soil and grow things are planted, the seeds of confidance in nature are planted, the seeds of stewardship to our earth are planted.  So, such a simple thing to plant a seed and yet the results are as tall as the sunflowers at the end of summer.

As the school day was winding down, all of the kids and teachers and parents came to watch the Earth Day parade.  It's a very simple parade with the kids banging drums and carrying giant paper mache creations of the earth (used year to year).  Then they all sing the Garden Song, cheer for Earth Day and thank everyone who helped.  It's a simple, pure, non-commercial holiday.  And I stand with my mommy friends and feel so blessed to be a part of something so simple.