Our school needs donations to build compost bins.

[Elizabeth Yazzie]

My name is Elizabeth Yazzie and I am a 7th grade Language Arts teacher at Madison Park. All year my students have been reading articles and writing essays on composting. We are now ready to begin building our compost bins. We need donations though. Please see the letter below that I sent to all of my parents and fellow staff members on my web page. If you are able to donate any of the items listed, we would greatly appreciate it. So far, we have the wooden pallets and screws.Dear Parents & Staff,Seventh grade students from Madison Park are asking you to donate some items to help us get started on our compost pile.WHAT IS COMPOST?Compost is basically a way of making dirt by using organic materials that break down over time.Green materials, such as vegetable and fruit peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds are added tobrown materials, such as yard trimmings. The pile is kept moist and covered. The pile naturallybreaks down into rich, black soil that can be used in gardening. Next year, Mrs. Yazzie's studentsare hoping to create an organic garden, so the compost will greatly help.WHY IS COMPOSTING IMPORTANT?Having a compost pile benefits the environment by preventing garbage from being sent to landfills.The use of compost in gardens also helps to prevent the use of harmful chemicals.For more information about composting, check out the websites below:http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htmhttp://communitygarden.org/docs/learn/articles/How_to_Compost.pdfWHAT ARE WE ASKING OF YOU?We need several items donated before we can begin composting.To build our compost bins we need . . .* 21 wooden pallets (DONATED BY SHOWCASE HONDA)* chicken wire* nails* screws (DONATED BY A GENEROUS PARENT)* 16 hinges* 4 tarps or old carpet* bungee cordsTo maintain the compost pile . . .* 2 pitchforks* 2 shovels* 2 rakes* 1 wheelbarrowTo collect food scraps from the cafeteria . . .* 4 - five gallon buckets, with lids (sometimes referred to as sheetrock or"mud" buckets)* 2 - fifty-five gallon garbage cans with wheelsThank you for taking the time to read our letter. Any materials you can donate would be greatlyappreciated.

[Elizabeth Yazzie]

Thank you Nicole for the response. I would love to see the gardens at Heights. Hopefully, my 7th graders for next year will be able to build raised garden beds for organic vegetable gardens. I have quite a few at home.

We have had several items donated already. My students and I have been building our compost bins the last couple of days. The process has been going great. We have 3 bins built and need to build one more. The students have been having a blast. I'll will give more of a detailed update, with pictures at a later time.

Below is what has been donated . . .
* 21 wooden pallets (DONATED BY SHOWCASE HONDA)
* chicken wire (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)
* nails (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)
* screws (DONATED BY A GENEROUS PARENT)
* 16 hinges (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)
* 2 tarps or old carpet (DONATED BY A PARENT)
* 2 bungee cords (DONATED BY A PARENT)

To maintain the compost pile . . .
* 2 pitchforks (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)
* 2 shovels (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)
* 1 wheelbarrow (DONATED BY MANNING SPRINKLERS)


We still need the items listed below. . .
* 2 rakes
* 2 tarps or pieces of old carpet
* 2-4 large bungee cords

To collect food scraps from the cafeteria . . .
* 4 - five gallon buckets, with lids (sometimes referred to as sheetrock or
"mud" buckets)
* 2 - fifty-five gallon garbage cans with wheels

[Nichol]

Wow! Sounds like I need to hit up Manning ;)>
I'll scrounge my drywall jobsite in the AM for buckets and drop stuff off tomorow after school or Friday AM. If you could look here http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=bungee at the 48" bungee cords. I don't mind picking a few up for you. I also have the 4x9 tarps, but since they are on sale and I have a coupon I could pick a few of those up too ( i need to pick some up for the art dept at #1 anyway). You know they last max 6 months in the sun here, right? Can't help you with the garbage cans but I know the school can get them or has them and if you ask your plant manager or call M&T and speak with John they may have something in storage you could use. I hear that storage center is a treasure trove.
Meanwhile you could borrow my garden wagon and toss a few smaller lidded cans on top of it for the time being.

[Nichol]

I meant pick up as in donate.

[Elizabeth Yazzie]

Thank you. That is a great idea. I will keep that in mind.

[Nichol]

Glad to see the gardens are taking off at Park! I'll look around and if I can help I'll drop it off with your plant manager and leave a message in the office. If you get a chance swing by Heights and see what we're doing with the gardens over there.