On May 18th Baltimore Urban Debate League Champions Katie Spriggs and Deboreah Ross of Hampstead Hill Academy were featured on Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast.Listen to the interview at:
http://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/518113-dont-argue-with-a-baltimorean/
On May 21st Garrison Forest School student volunteers brightened the City Springs Community Pool. Upper School students painted, weeded, and cleaned up the neglected community pool, working alongside students from McDonogh School.
Arcos Restaurant held a benefit fundraiser for Wolfe Street Academy 's string instrument program on May 24th. Attendees enjoyed a performance by fourth grader Faustino Cano and instructor/cellist Jill Collier while feasting on fantastic Mexican cuisine and margaritas.Combined with money raised from a recent Quiznos fundraiser, the two fundraisers earned over $800. Proceeds will benefit Wolfe Street's after-school "Bridges" program, a partnership with the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra which provides 35 Wolfe Street kids with violin, viola and cello instruction as well as Sunday orchestra classes.
The Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance and Goldseker Foundation have pledged a matching grant of $5,500 to support the program. So far we have raised about $4,000 towards our goal of $5,500.
The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF) has awarded Wolfe Street Academy a $350 Urban Youth Garden grant to create a community garden. The grant is part of MAEF's AG Returns to the City program and their Edible Classroom Youth Gardening Project.Students at HHA, led by Food for Life teacher Chrissa Carlson, completed a "Trash to Treasures" project. The grant funds were used to implement and document activities at the school that conserve and reuse resources, and demonstrate to the community how they can take action at home.
Drip irrigation lines, fed by rain barrels, helped water beds in the school's organic garden using stored rainwater from rain barrels, and waste from the annual Hampstead Hill Nights events was composted to organic soil amendments for the garden.
The Conservation Team documented their work and shared information on conserving water and energy, and reducing waste at a Green Expo during the final Hampstead Hill Nights event on May 26th.
Students also shared their work, along with other grant recipients, at a celebration with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on May 21st.
Thank you to Baltimore City Public Schools, the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Baltimore Office of Sustainability; and the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge for supporting Hampstead Hill Academy.
Hampstead Hill Academy (HHA) has received a grant from the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF) to fund the installation of a wash station in the school's organic vegetable garden.In response to student requests for food preparation activities in the garden, and to increase opportunities for safe tasting of garden fruits, vegetables, and herbs, funds were sought to install a sink that can be used to wash hands and freshly harvested produce and herbs.
The wash stand was constructed by parent volunteers during a garden workday, using a reclaimed kitchen sink from the Loading Dock.
Thank you to MAEF for supporting Hampstead Hill Academy and congratulations to Chrissa Carlson for writing the grant proposal!
To learn more about MAEF visit: http://www.maefonline.com/
Middle Grades Partnership student Sabriaya used to get picked on for being a good student at Collington Square School of the Arts. “I have always been a geek,” she jokes, but not fitting in was hurting her self-esteem. So, when she was invited to participate in the Middle Grades Partnership program, she welcomed the opportunity to learn in a new environment.