Click here for background information on Brown Middle School.

May 2010 -- We were joined by students form KIPP STRIVE academy's environemntal club to climb a trees in our outdoor classroom!   It was amazing! Tree Climbers International came out and took us higher in the BeltLine Arboretum. We enjoyed hanging out and experiencing trees like we never had before!

'Treeman' and 'Mantis' taught us how safe and easy it is to climb. Anybody can do it! Now that we've climbed we need climbing names, too.

We had a lot of fun climbing together!

April 2010 -- Our outdoor classroom is getting plenty of use this spring! We've gone on plant walks and many natives are flowering and attracting wildlife. Atlanta Audubon returned again to teach us how to combines observation, art, and nature study through nature journaling. Long before Facebook and Twitter, journaling was how we captured and shared nature's status update and tweets, speaking of birds. Katherine brought us our very own journal and taught us journaling techniques and how words, pictures, and feelings are scientific.

Our new kiosk is complete and is loaded with information about G-Force, the BeltLine and Arboretum, and all the cool birds that are visiting the Brown Middle Wildlife Triangle. Next is to paint it cause we're so proud of how good it and our outdoor classroom looks.

March 2010 -- Its official y'all, the Brown Middle School environmental club is G-FORCE! We elected officers, have some fundraising projects ahead, and are moving forward with more exciting projects, such as school recycling and composting in the cafeteria. Soon we will make presentations to the faculty about the importance of a school wide compost program and how the garden (and all us) will benefit.

Mike Flynn from Greening Youth Foundation visited to help us formalize our school recycling program. Only a few classrooms have bins and our school needs a large collection bin outside. Check back to see how we progress.

Together we discuss and figure out how to make recycling a schoolwide activity. Mike helps us plan a strategy.

Julie from Creating Vibrant Communities has made regular visits to help us establish a school composting program. Known as the "urban garden stalker," she's a persist force in the G-FORCE. If we can recycle paper then why not food waste?

On February 9, 2010, in celebration of Georgia Arbor Day, Brown Middle environmental club members were inspired by a presentation from Lonna and Darrell from the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) about climate change and the growing need for youth environmental leaders. By the end, we all had a better understanding of the problem and all wanted to do something!  After the presentation, Robby helped us plant a tree unique to the West Connection Natural Neighborhood. Come to our school and we'll show you the new Cypress.

Darrell explains that civil rights, women's rights, and many other movements were started by youth. Why should the environmental movement be any different?	Planting a tree in our new outdoor classroom; the exercise feels good and this bald cypress tree will be so happy nearby this pond.

We are adding trees that fit the arboretum collection which includes trees as old as dinosaurs, like the unique 'Falling Waters' bald cypress. This cypress is a weeping tree and has an unusual drooping shape. It's definitely special for Arbor Day.

On January 11, 2010, we started an environmental club so we could continue to learn outside and improve our school grounds. Here's a few picures of us learning the 'inside and outs' of urban forestry.

Robby shows us decaying branches which are important to wildlife and soil development. When we looked close, we saw that a woodpecker had made a home here.	Check out our new outdoor classroom! We planted many plants last year and now have seats from salvaged logs. Ms. Hall likes our recycled seats and will soon decorate the kiosk.

We went for a hike to explore the plants and wildlife of the urban forest. Some of us will come back with our families to show them around.	Hiking is fun, good for you, and sure beats learning inside... this is our classroom, after all... lol.

We found signs of wildlife. No one really knows who or how many animals live here.	Students show off their knowledge of the BeltLine Arboretum.

On March 14th, 2009, we completed our first wildlife restoration planting next to the BeltLine Arboretum. The Brown Middle School Wildlife Triangle is right between Brown Middle and the West End trail of the BeltLine. Students, teachers and many neighborhood volunteers helped plant. We also got a lot of help from the Atlanta Audubon Society! Many important species as old as dinosaurs can be found in the Wildlife triangle, as well as species native to Piedmont's Oak-hickory forest.

The planting plan is circled by seeds, nuts, fruits, leaves, and flowers of the species on the map which were planted.

We planted a variety of trees, shrubs, and ground covers

with wildlife value, including:

• Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
• Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
• Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
• Viburnum (Viburnum nudum)
• Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
• Paw-paw (Asimina triloba)

Look how we transformed our schoolyard:

Brown Middle Wildlife triangle before	Brown Middle Wildlife triangle during	Brown Middle Wildlife triangle after