Campus Beautification

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1 Campus Beautification River Bend Middle School (RBMS) has implemented a program in 2009 through the PTA called Campus Beautification. The students and staff at RBMS participate in the program through afterschool clubs like Habitat, SAC and LEO. The goal of Campus Beautification is to encourage and stimulate lifelong learning about our rich, natural environment while enjoying nature, wildlife and plants. Follow the links below for more details about the Campus Beautification program: PROJECTS EVENTS RBMS HABITAT, SAC AND LEO CLUBS LANDSCAPE DESIGN PLANS DONORS CONTACT US As you will discover, there are many opportunities for all of us within the community to get involved with this important beautification and educational process for the middle school students at RBMS. The RBMS PTA Campus Beautification Committee welcomes your help and suggestions as this project evolves over time. Join us in making RBMS a more beautiful, enriching place for the students, staff, parents and residents as we celebrate, learn and bask in nature's gifts and full splendor! Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. ~ John Muir

2 ADOPT A TREE PROGRAM The Adopt a Tree program gives individuals and organizations a powerful, sustainable way of honoring, recognizing or memorializing special people and events through the beauty of trees. This program at River Bend Middle School (RBMS) is designed to add trees to the RBMS environment in the spirit of providing the school with long-term benefits. It is proudly sponsored by the PTA as a component of the Campus Beautification plan. The benefits of the Adopt a Tree program are numerous. By planting these trees, they provide shade during the summer and a buffer from wind and cold during winter. Trees also provide oxygen, a natural filter of pollution, and a habitat for animals and wildlife.

3 We are pleased to announce that to celebrate Earth Day this year, 41 new trees will be installed on campus due to the kind, generous donation of K&H Landscape & Grounds Maintenance. For further information, please see the PTA website or contact the Campus Beautification Chair, Susan Barkley at: or The poetry of the earth is never dead. ~ John Keats

4 PROJECTS In the near future, garden grottos will be installed between the "A," "B," and "C" houses of the school. The outdoor spaces in these alcoves will be a perfect place to learn while outdoors. Read poetry in the meandering garden, take a history class in one of the outdoor seating spaces, or have lunch near the small greenhouse or meditative garden. For all of the details, please see the design plans on the RBMS PTA website. This is a current photo between Houses A and B at RBMS. This picture is similar to the alcove between Houses B and C. Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~ Lao Tzu

5 LANDSCAPE DESIGN PLANS Insert design plans Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

6 CAMPUS BEAUTIFICATION EVENTS EARTH DAY Celebrate Earth Day with RBMS on Friday, April 20, 2012! Meet in front of the school at 2:30 pm! Last year, on April 29, 2011, RBMS celebrated National Arbor Day in conjunction with Earth Day. The event also kicked of the Adopt a Tree program. K&H Landscape & Grounds Maintenance donated the gazebo area for student drop-off and pick-ups on April 29, There were poetry readings sponsored by the SAC Club. And a guitar ensemble. The Habitat Club planted trees. Earth Day was also celebrated in 2010 at RBMS. Please see our first project completed below:

7 This is the front of River Bend Middle School on Earth Day, April 22, 2010 Principal Lacy and Loudoun County Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (Potomac District) at Earth Day Celebration at RBMS on April 22, 2010 In wilderness is the preservation of the world. ~ Henry David Thoreau

8 RBMS HABITAT CLUB RBMS students volunteer their time to nature and the environment via the Habitat Club. The club is sponsored by RBMS Science teacher, Paul Nawrot. The Habitat Club has been busy for years tending to its native garden and wildlife habitat. It is composed of many different native plants to Virginia. These native plants have been installed and more will be added in the future. Some of the plants the Habitat members hope to include in future plantings are: blazing star or gayfeather spice bush winterberry sweet pepperbush inkberry chokeberry shining sumac American wisteria wild bleeding heart wild columbine tall coreopsis dwarf larkspur great blue lobelia virginia bluebells wild bergamot Please consider helping the Habitat Club by joining if you are an RBMS student, or if you are a parent by either volunteering some native plants, organic compost, or your time. For more information, please contact Paul Nawrot, Habitat Club sponsor at: Paul.Nawrot@loudoun.k12.va.us. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~ William Shakespeare

9 DONORS We are pleased to continue receiving support and donations from K&H - Landscape & Grounds Maintenance, serving both residential and commercial clients in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties for almost 30 years. K&H is owned by Kris Hjort, RBMS PTA Campus Beautification Committee member. Mr. Hjort has generously supported the middle school over the past several years by donating K&H employees time and labor as well as landscaping materials and plants to complete the front planting bed outside the main entrance, the landscaping surrounding the flag pole in front of the middle school, the landscaping along the front entrance of the school leading toward the bike racks, and the gazebo area for student drop off and pickups. Plus, K&H has planted 41+ trees throughout the campus. The RBMS front entrance sign. The RBMS student pick-up/drop-off area. We have also received donations from Home Depot and Lowes. Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. ~ Rachel Carson

10 CONTACT US RBMS PTA is an incorporated, tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization. If you are interested in donating, checks are payable to River Bend Middle School PTA. Please be sure to mark Campus Beautification in the memo of your check. We appreciate your support! Susan Barkley RBMS PTA Campus Beautification Chair Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~ Albert Einstein