Greetings Fami-Lees!

This newsletter site is provided by Lee Gardens and Chicken Coop! We will be utilizing it to help us share information about them, to offer a pictorial tour of our Lee (School and Student) Gardens, Lee Chicken Coop, and nature-inspired activities students/teachers initiated.

There are many ways for families and students to get involved in our gardens and chicken coop at Lee. Please refer to the section below-How Can you help? The photos below offer an opportunity for students and families to see parts of our school gardens and chicken coop and the many dwellers residing there. You can use them to support your teaching and learning in subjects as diverse as Science, English Language Arts, Music, Art, and Math.

This website will be updated with content about Lee Gardens and chicken coop on an ongoing basis. We hope the text can answer some of your questions about our gardens and chicken coop operations at Lee.

P.S. Thank you for your ongoing support of Lee Gardens and Chicken Coop! Without it, these essential enrichment/experimental opportunities would not be possible for our students!

Lee School Garden, Lee Raised-Bed Student Garden, Lee Wildflower Garden, Lee Youth Garden, Lee Chicken Coop, and Lee Rainwater Collection System started by many parents, students, families, teachers, and community members many years ago with the vision to transform under-utilized areas into innovative education tools for our students and teachers.

We have started a new garden-Lee Monarch Butterfly Pollinator Garden by the flagpole.

Our 4th grade teacher, Mr. Mclntyre, and his students planted the star-shaped garden full of native milkweeds and Texas native plants using a National Wildlife Federation Grant we received.

Here is the general opening event wall located in our main hallway created to educate all students about this new project. On the very top you'll see EXPLORE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION'S MONARCH HEROES PROGRAM AT LEE ELEMENTARY. On the wall, you'll see the almost 200 origami butterflies created to mimic the clusters of them in winter month in the mountains in Mexico. On the wall, you can also find interesting and useful information under RESOURCES.

You may use the sheet below to help you conduct a milkweed hunt! You might learn more about what native milkweed looks like and why it is so important to the monarch butterfly as a host plant – serving as the sole source of food for hungry, hungry monarch caterpillars. If you send me a picture, I can upload it to this milkweed map.

Check out the monarch first sightings and monarch adult sightings near you and share them with your roadrunners – these maps will be updated now through the end of the summer migration.

-All students who enrolled in our Lee Onsite After Care program were offered the opportunity to visit the gardens and chicken coop with me at 5 p.m.

-The students in my group(3rd graders-now 4th graders) (4th, 5th, and 6th graders-now 5th graders and middle school students) were given the opportunity to water, mulch, plant, taste, weed, observe, ask questions, and, of course, to feed the chickens.

-In the past, Lee Onsite After-Care 3rd grade students-now 4th graders had harvested vegetables for our Lee Amigos.

-A little over one thirds of the Lee Onsite After-Care Students in 2019/2020 received a seedling to grow at home.

-All Lee Roadrunners were provided the opportunity in the Cafeteria to taste vegetables and herbs harvested from our Lee Gardens and Lee Student Raised-Bed Gardens during our Lee Cafeteria Sampling Event before Covid-19 Pandemic.

-Gardens have provided fresh produce for families in need. Mr. Hewlett delivered items from our gardens along with many other essential items to families in need.

-Eggs collected were put in the Lee Pantry area by the Library for anyone.

-In 2019, eggs were auctioned at the Lee Live and families who won the bid received eggs.

-Now we hold Lee Chicken Coop Egg Drawing weekly. Every week, a faculty or staff member receives a dozen eggs from Lee Chicken Coop.

-Garden harvest this year went to faculty/staff who requested them. As always, Gardens are open to the public! All are welcome to harvest edibles responsibly at their own risk.

-Gardens and Chicken coop are open to all students and teachers during school hours! Classroom teachers and Essential Area teachers decide when it is best to integrate any TEKS-aligned lessons, enrichment activities into their daily, weekly or monthly lessons utilizing gardens and chicken coop.

-At the moment, Garden and Chicken Coop tour for students is available upon request and coordination with Classroom teachers and Essential Area teachers.

-Second Grade In-Person students are offered the opportunity to receive garden and chicken coop tours. They can plant and water vegetables, and feed, pet, and hold chickens almost every afternoon. Students were also offered a mint plant to take home and grow. Additionally, Second Grade In-person students and teachers released their butterflies (one of 2nd grade’s signature Science projects) into our Lee School Garden.

-This week (April 19-April 23), all in-person students are scheduled to have a Lee Gardens and Chicken Coop tour. They also have the opportunity to sow a seed in one of our gardens! Pictures are coming.

By supporting and utilizing our gardens, students at Lee Elementary School obtain an appreciation for food origins, nutrition, and cultivation. They also receive knowledge of plant and animal cycles and classification, and an understanding of ecosystems in real time. At the same time, they continue to build and expand important life skills in positive social and emotional learning, horticulture, sustainability, environmental knowledge and awareness, patience and responsibility, community, and human to earth connections.

You do not need to be a Master Gardener. You do not need to have a green thumb. You do not need to be an expert on raising poultry. Whether you are all or none of the above, we could use your help to transform our Lee grounds (gardens and chicken coop). Our main efforts include several annual Roadie Workdays (coordinated by principal Mr. Hewlett), daily/weekly facilitation of students in learning about living things in the gardens and chicken coop, garden upkeep in spring break, summer break, or winter break, and chicken coop upkeep/tending.

Option 1: Roadie Workdays

Get information from Mr. Hewlett and show up.

Option 2: Daily/weekly facilitation of students in learning about living things in the gardens and chicken coop. Identification of plants is desired, especially vegetables. If you are interested in this volunteer position, please email me, dani.monahan@austinisd.org

Option 3: Garden upkeep in spring break, summer break, or winter break. Please email me for more information on how to help.

Option 4: Chicken coop upkeep/tending in spring break, summer break, or winter break

Please email me dani.monahan@austinisd.org for more information on how to help.

Option 5: None appeals to you? No problem.

You may refer to the Texas A&M AgriLife Vegetable Planting Guide to donate seedlings and seeds!

You may refer to the LBJ Wildflower Center website to donate Texas Native Plants.

You may also donate gift card from any plant nurseries such as the Natural Gardeners, the Great Outdoor, et cetera.

Upcoming Plant Sale: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Spring Plant Sale

• Weekends by reservation only April 2nd – May 30th
• https://www.wildflower.org/event/spring-native-plant-sale/2021-04-02

FACT 1: All students at Lee help feed the chickens!

How does that work? Our wonderful custodians and kitchen crew collect appropriate food for our chickens!

FACT 2: At Lee, we have an onsite compost area.

FACT 3: The gardens at Lee are open to the public. Students are welcome to visit and harvest responsibly and sustainably with an adult. Just do not pull the whole plant (carrots are an exception :) nor pull all the flowers. Save those for the insects and birds please! Most importantly, have fun and stay on the path!

FACT 4: Chickens are omnivores.

Hello everyone! I am Dani Monahan. My son Joseph is a first grader at Lee. Your children call me Mrs. Monahan. I started working at Lee in the winter of 2019 as a Child Care Worker (for 3rd grade, and then 4th, 5th, and 6th) and a Cafeteria Monitor.

I started tending the gardens (first 6 Raised-Bed Student Gardens and then expanded to Lee School Garden and Lee Wildflower Garden) and chicken coop in November 2019.

Many of the students who enrolled in Lee onsite After-Care Program know me and might enjoyed the opportunity to fold origami with me, to receive a plant to grow, to taste an edible, to visit the chicken coop, and to participate in gardening. Additionally, Lee Student Council also participated in touring the gardens and Chicken Coop with me.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, my roles at Lee expanded to support teachers (and students) during their presence and sometimes when they are absent. I am forever grateful for the privilege and honor to work with our 2nd grade teachers and students!

As part of supporting them, the 2nd grade in-person students get to work in the gardens with me almost every afternoon and visit the chicken coop. They also were offered a seedling to take home to grow.

Without your involvement and dedication, no experimental/enrichment programs/opportunities would be available to our students at Lee! So, a sincere thank you to all who worked endlessly on paving the way for the gardens and chicken coop you see today on Lee campus!

A special thank you to Rosemary Stewart and Ramsey for tending our gardens during summer break!

Dave and family, thank you for all the hens you donated to Lee and all the support you offered to us over the years!

Brad Price, chickens would not be able to return to our Lee Chicken Coop without your proactiveness! We say THANK YOU on behalf of the chickens.

Jillian DeLaTorre Copeland and her family, thank you so much for your pallets donation to build our Lee Compost and the beautiful fig tree! Students will be very excited to learn this new fruit tree addition!

Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2021

Earth Week: Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 23, 2021

At Russell Lee Elementary School, we celebrate Earth Day each and every day.

Below is a small list of activities we will be doing at Russell Lee Elementary School which resemble the love we have for our Earth! Some activities are already in progress/ in session and are offered each and every day to students because we love our Earth at Russell Lee Elementary School.

1. Lee 2021 Olympics activities put together by our P.E. teacher Alyssa Rangel.

2. Fitness Friday message through Morning Announcement by P.E. teacher Alyssa Rangel.

3. All students are offered the opportunity to our garden and chicken coop tour during Earth Day Week and everyday at Russell Lee Elementary School.

4. All students will be provided the opportunity to plant an edible in our gardens during our Earth Day/Week.

5. Our Librarian Jenny Day, Art teacher Elisabeth Wilborn, and classroom teachers will all have specific projects for students to do in anticipation of Earth Day and Earth Week celebration.

6. Bike or Walk to School Day on May 5th and EVERYDAY at Lee Elementary. See Flyer below. If you are a remote learner, you'd like to participate. You may walk or bike to some where with your guardians any time and anywhere. Please email photos or videos to dani.monahan@austinsid.org.

7. Earth Week activities from Austin ISD Sustainability department . See link below. Please email photos or videos to dani.monahan@austinsid.org.

8. Fourth and Second grades raised and released their butterflies into our Lee School Garden and Lee Student Garden for the 2nd time this year in March and April.

9. At Lee, we have a reuse, recycle, repurpose/renew station. Also, we have an onsite compost area and a rain water collection system.

Our Second graders are learning about Bike Safety this week with their classroom teachers!

May 6th Webinar – Bicycling with Butterflies webinar event – In 2017, Sara Dykman became the first person to bicycle the entire route of the migrating monarch butterfly. Sara’s journey took her from Mexico to Canada and back, accompanied only by her old mountain bike weighed down with all the supplies she would need for nine months on the road and the fleets of monarchs flying above…. Join this webinar to hear her story and learn about the launch of her book, Bicycling with Butterflies!