It’s hard to believe we are almost at the end of this year’s third quarter. The school year continues to be a challenging one for students, parents and children, so with our faith-based partnership, we are glad to be able to provide assistance where we can.
Classroom Volunteers
Volunteers who were previously involved pre-COVID have been allowed back to assist classroom teachers, providing one-on-one help to students. The need is great, and we hope to bring our volunteer team back to higher numbers in the next school year. Please give some thought to helping out for an hour or two starting in the fall. So many students have fallen behind during the pandemic, and can make such progress with extra help and encouragement. This is difficult for teachers to provide with such a range of levels in larger classes.
Gardening Opportunities
In the garden, we finished harvesting from our winter garden, chopping up veggies to cook a big batch of veggies and pasta so students could experiment with new tastes. The spring garden is planted! Last week, 2nd and 4th graders brought seedling they had begun in newspaper pots at the end of January, and gave them a better home in the garden boxes. They dug holes just the right size, sank their pots into the soil, covered and watered them—a first experience for so many. With warmer weather and just the right amount of water, we expect to harvest tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, beans, herbs, and all kinds of beautiful flowers. Students are learning about soil, parts of plants, photosynthesis, and pollinators; observing changes in all the orchard trees; and keeping an eye on all the birds that come to visit.
We meet with these classes twice a month on Thursdays and Friday mornings for instruction and hands on activities. We could really benefit by having a few more volunteers this spring so we can work with smaller groups to make the experience more engaging for students. If you enjoy kids and gardening, you will love this opportunity to be a part of the outdoor education at Maryland. Please email maryland@phoenixuu.org for more interest or with questions.
Tax Credits
Also, budgets do not cover a number of special programs and after school activities which can be so beneficial to students. If you have not yet designated your AZ tax credit funds, please use this form to do so for Maryland School, for either 2021 taxes (until April 18th) or for 2022.