Dear Friends,
Some years ago I was trying to figure out some way
to do some lessons in plants,
and life, and growing, etc,
at the Kindergarden level.
And in this particular year, I had,
in my home biome,
many, many little satellite babies of
Spiderplant, Chlorophytum comosum,
or in spanish "lazo de amor".
In english it means "ribbon of love"
Kind of nicer than "spiderplant"
though, the shape of the plant does look spidery,
and if you don't have a spider phobia,
it is a lovely look.
The plant sends out fertile branches that end in lovely white blossoms,
that somehow tranform to create miniature spider plants,
that grow, droop in their heaviness, extend roots,
and probably in their home place,
drop into nearby water
and find their way to a new niche.
In our apartments they sit,
wondering what to do.
I collected a hundred of these babies one year,
and brought them to the kindergarden classes.
I wrote a song.
I thought these babies would be good Mothers' Day gifts.
The song said :
Spider took a walk
and found a lovely palm tree
The palm tree said to spider
"Would you like to climb on me?"
Soon they were married and had alot of children
The children were all spider plants,
one, two and three.
The biology is a bit .....
But, the love is for real.
I asked my son Jamal to translate into Spanish.
He did.
But he altered the music into a Latin modality that totally improved and transformed it.
In Spanish:
Erase un fino liston
(There once was a ribbon)
que llevada por el viento
(Thrown up by the wind)
en las bellas ramas de una
(Into the lovely branches of a)
palmera se enlazo
(palm tree, it was entangled)
Tan a gusta se sentia
(So wonderful it felt)
que al rato se casaron
(That they were soon married)
y tenemos en resultato
(and as a result we have)
una lazo de amor....
(a ribbon of Love)
Entre un liston y la palmera
(Between the ribbon and the palm)
hay un lazo de amor
(There is a bond of love)
Entre el agua y la tierra
(Between water and the earth)
hay un lazo de amor
(There is a bond of love)
Entre el cielo y las nubes
(Between the trees and the clouds)
hay un lazo de amor
(There is a bond of love)
entre mi y mi mama
(Between me and my mother)
hay un lazo de amor.
(There is a bond of love)
Lazo de amor?
How do you say it in English?
A bond of love?
A tangle of love?
A knot of love?
A ribbon of love?
What is the thing between water and earth,
tree and sky?
mother and child?
That is a lazo de amor.
I will be bringing this song / story to the Kinder kids this week.
The story, art and songs are posted on our website,
https://www.watersecology.org/2022/03/11/1382/
Mr. Leki
I served as the Chair of the first Waters LSC in 1991 for five years. It was an intense experience, with alot of drama and alot of learning. We discovered “progressive” education* (see below for my explanation of this term) and dedicated ourselves to bringing it into Waters. Much of what makes the school what it is today is based on that very powerful and humanistic outlook. In 2000, the tides shifted and the Federal “No Child Left Behind” Law sought to replace progressive schooling with hi stakes testing, sorting and ranking of students by test scores, and punishing schools that failed to meet arbitrarily imposed standards. It has been a difficult task to move forward against such a head wind. But the progressive impulse still can be felt in the school. And it is largely the job of the Local School Council to defend and support that vision.
Ecology is part of that, as is the integration of other subject areas with ecology. Children are multifaceted beings, and they need to be immersed in all aspects of human endeavor. For this reason, I urge parents and community members to consider serving on the LSC. It is an opportunity to learn, to advocate for our children, teachers and our school. Progressive voices on the LSC can help keep our school on track, to grow and to blossom.
Applications must be submitted by 3:00pm on Wednesday March 9th in the school office.
Please consider!
Pete Leki
*Progressive ed is historically linked to John Dewey in the early 20th century, but there are many similar strands with many voices and leaders up to the present day. In a traditional school (like the CPS I went to as a child) the classroom and schedule were rigidly structured. Desks bolted to the floors, each child isolated, teacher in front delivering lessons, students in their own bubbles either paying attention or not. The class was tested on the content of the lesson, ranked, some doing well, others not. Report cards went home to deliver the news to the parents. English, math, social studies, science, and art or music (if it was offered) were stand alone subjects, delivered on a schedule.In the progressive education model, the classroom is a learning community, the teacher is the coach. Students work in all sorts of clusters with others on projects of their own making, led by their own curiosity. The teacher checks in and assists with resources and encouragement. The resources are often from the neighborhood, from outside the school, including the experience and talents of parents. The disciplines are combined, with art being part of math and social studies part of science (for example). A report by a group of students on a historical event might be given in the form of a play, or a piece of music, or a mural. The different talents and strengths in the students were shared in the group, recognized and celebrated. Students were allowed to venture out into the world, to engage it, to appreciate and understand its beauty and problems, and to act to change things for the better. When parent conferences were held, they did not include grades and ranking, but presentation of the students work as a portfolio, with a thoughtful conversation between parents, teacher and students about the student’s progress and future goals. Sounds impossible? It is not. In the 90s our staff was invited to many, many conferences and meetings with other educators and schools who were implementing these methods with great success. Our school partnered with visionary professors at National Louis University’s Center for City Schools. Over the next 10 years the Center and its fellows published a doen books developing theory and practice. Most of them are in our staff library. Let me know if you would like to borrow one or two.
This week we will finish our Winter Field Ecology Schedule!! 22 outings that witnessed winter and wonders. This past week the sixth graders got a tour of the Chicago River/sewer/freshwater system. A lifelong memory for them will no doubt be repelling down the riverbank to see the grey foaming effluent from the sewer plant (the “cleaned” wastewater), with its pungent aroma of septic and perfume, heading downstream to our neighborhood. Farther up the Channel, in Wilmette, they saw a completely different river, blue, clear, and fresh Lake water. We hope that that vision will be the river of our future!
This week in ecology we will continue with 1st-grade trees, begin reading and responding to Mighty Acorns journals, and begin rehearsals of The Legend of Snake and Turtle. It will be performed by 1st-grade actors for Kinder, 1st, and 8th Grades!
On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 4th Grade Room 317 will embark on our rescheduled winter trip to Sauganash. We are running out of winter. Change out snow boots for rain boots. The bus leaves at 9:30 and will be back by 12:30. Volunteers meet by the fish tank at 9:00.
Can it be true? Covid cases falling, daylight lengthening, silver maples in the bud, and a whiff of Spring in the air?? Mr. Leki
We have been conducting prescribed burns of our native gardens at Waters for the past 20 years. They are awesome events, and a humbling experience to witness the intense power of fire on landscapes.
Prairies, savannas and oak woods are fire evolved ecosystems. Without fire they would evolve into different ecosystems (in historic times, they would evolve into mixed forests including fire intolerant trees. In modern times they would devolve into weird mixes of invasive species and aggressive natives). We will be conducting controlled burns at Waters and at the Riverbank this spring. If you would like to learn more about the science, procedures and safety techniques that are employed during a burn, you are invited to a Burn Workshop (via Zoom) on Wednesday, February 23 at 6:00. Attendance at this workshop is required if you would like to join our burn crew on the day of the actual burn.
We are lucky to have a number of certified burn crew members in our community who will be joining the presentation. We have permits in hand from the Illinois EPA. We are ready to go.
Monday, February 14, 2022, 1st grade continues to study the trees of Waters School. They have been introduced to 7 out of 11 trees and they are getting GOOD!
On Tuesday, February 15, 8:30 until 10:30,2nd Grade Room 204 will visit the Riverbank Neighbors Restored riverbank. In the past 2 trips, students saw: a kingfisher, a goldeneye duck, Canada geese, junkos, a coyote, a red-tailed hawk, a great blue heron, a hawk eating a squirrel, and a BALD EAGLE! You never know! Join us.
On Wednesday, February 16, 3rd Grade Room 216, will finally make it to Sauganash to explore and do restoration work. Bus leaves at 9:30, back at 12:30. Join us.
On Friday, 7th Grade Room 305 will visit the Lake at Montrose Point. Bus leaves at 9:30 and returns at 1:15 or so. Join us.
A packed week in ecology. Our trips to the wild have been well supported by our volunteers.
DEEP GRATITUDE!
My Number one need this week is help with the 8th Grade Garden visit on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 1:15.
We will be preparing baked potatoes and hot spiced cider. The students will finish packing mint tea,decorating little packets that will be filled with roasted pumpkin seeds,shoveling snow and splitting kindling.I will be back from my morning field trip (see below) in time to get the fires started and the potatoes cooked. But I need help tending the fire and spuds while the students are set to their tasks.Want to join us.? One or two people would make a big difference.
Tuesday, Feb. 8, from 8:30 – 10:30, 2nd Grade Room 203, will visit the river at the Riverbank Neighbors Restoration site (east bank Montrose to Berteau). They will do a scavenger hunt, weather station, and field journal about their explorations. Volunteers gather 15 minutes before leaving, for a briefing.
On Thursday, Feb 10, 9:30 – 12:30, 5th Grade Room 318 repeats the trip described above. Join us!
Finally, On Friday, February 11, from 9:30 – 1:30, 7th Grade Room 302 will journey to the Lake at Montrose Point to study Lake geology, to experience the power of the Lake in Winter, and to create poetry. Volunteers can join us 15 minutes before the trip for a briefing. Bring lunch!
We have reopened the lunchroom waste sorting line in the “Green Wing” Annex (the “old” Annex). It has been almost two years since we did full-fledged waste sorting. It is a great experience to witness our students’ seriousness and dedication. But they need guidance! First Grade continues Tree studies on Monday. And for this reason, I won’t be able to monitor and guide our kids. Can anyone help? If we can staff the line for a week or two, good habits will be formed, and we will be able to move on to the other, “new” lunchroom, and eventually the hallway lunch corridors. We also expect that lunchtime staff will be stabilized in the upcoming weeks. In the past, these staff was critical to keeping the waste sorting and food sharing going smoothly. Please let me know if you can help. Lunch periods are 11:15 to 11:35 for 2nd grade; 12:10 to 12:30 for 8th Grade; 12:45 to 1:05 for 4th Grade.
On Tuesday, February 1, two eighth grade classes will visit the garden (9:30 and 10:30) to roast potatoes, drink hot spiced cider, and process garden mint tea and pumpkin seeds. Volunteer assistance will be helpful to keep things moving smoothly. I have a master chef on deck for the fire and potatoes!
On Tuesday afternoon, from 1:00 till 3:00, 2nd Grade Room 202, will venture to the Riverbank Neighbors Natural Area at Berteau to check out the river in winter. It is the river that never freezes. Do you know why?? Join us 15 minutes prior to the trip to be briefed on trip goals and your roles.
On Wednesday, February 2, 4th Grade, Room 317 Mighty Acorns will travel to Sauganash to explore, discover, and cut buckthorn. So far the week’s weather forecast looks promising. I really appreciate that “sweet” zone, from 20 – 30 degrees, to keep the snow and ground frozen, and mild enough to make the outings very enjoyable. On Thursday, February 3, 4th Grade Room 308 will repeat the trip just described. We’ve had to cancel two trips because of cold. These trips, for rooms 216 and 217, have been rescheduled for February 16 and 17. Fingers crossed. I’m still looking for a donated sled, suitable for hauling our winter equipment to our work site. It can be beat up, as long as it works.
You must be a CPS Approved Volunteer to attend any of these activities.
Making our way into the winter ecology program is like riding the surf (I suppose), or doing downhill slalom (I suppose). At every moment, something might go wrong, sending everything topsy-turvy.
That’s why I cross my fingers and double-check every day as winter field trips draw near. We’ve had to cancel (for cold weather) 2 of the first four trips. Oh, well.
They are being rescheduled and starting early in the year, giving us time to have a new date IN WINTER, with snow and cold and tracks, and ice. So, tomorrow we are off, with 4th Grade Room 307. They are so excited. And think of the weather! Yesterday and today were polar! Tomorrow the temperature will rise to the balmy ’20s, and the kids will have a fantastic winter experience in the wild. Whew. I hope.
Next week there is more in store, but I am particularly happy to have scheduled the 8th grade to come on out into the Winter Garden. Our main task is to eat the roasted potatoes that we grew, to drink spiced apple cider, and to process the lovely mints into tea bags, and maybe shovel snow, or do some other garden tasks. The great thing, is that we will have access to the “old” Annex, west side. We called this the “Green Wing” when it was built. (It has a green roof, solar hot water, floor heating, southern exposure….) And it was supposed to be the new home for the ecology program, displaced by the destruction of the old, lovely fieldhouse. I had the western section of the Green Wing for a year (except during lunch time). We had classes there, art and cooking and processing. It was great. Then we got overcrowded and the school needed the space for a Kinder class. For a year I shared the room with Ms. Novak and had the pleasure of overhearing her kind and brilliant pedagogy.
Then, we became more crowded and the space was taken over by our awesome arts program. I shifted myself to the teacher’s lounge/conference room, where I am today. It was all good.
I give this history to say that it will be great to have that same space, with the southern view of the garden, available to host 8th grade classes. BUT, I NEED HELP. BECAUSE I HAVE OTHER CLASSES TO COVER, AND GETTING THE FIRES GOING IN THE GRILL (RECENTLY DONATED BY A FRIEND) right on time to produce perfectly cooked garden, organic potatoes, needs careful attention. ANY CHEFS OUT THERE? Anyone willing and able to start the fires and have potatoes ready for dressing with butter, yogurt, chives, mushrooms????
Each class lasts 45-50 minutes. We will have the luxury of inside/outside access, with sinks and bathrooms. This thing, of kids, students, growing, harvesting, cooking and sharing delicious food, is life changing (anyway, they remember). Want to help?? With parents and teachers and neighbors involved, it becomes a community building thing.Can you help??
Lovely snow blankets the ground. Sunlight streams in through the south facing window, warming my back and legs, and coffee.The lengthening of daylight is becoming obvious now, one month past the Winter Solstice. And that should buoy our spirits. Dare we hope that Omicron is the last variant, and that Covid will fade into the past? Not yet, but hope is an eternal flame.
This week in ecology we continue tree study with the 1st Grades, and preps for upcoming Mighty Acorn trips.
On Wednesday, January 26, 3rd Grade Room 217, will have its first taste of Sauganash, tracking animals, testing their own cold weather mettle, and removing the invasive Buckthorn from the Preserve. Parent volunteers meet at the fish tank at 9:00, we leave at 9:30, and return by 12:30 for lunch (in a warm place). Please join us, if you can.
On Thursday, January 27, 4th Grade Room 307, will visit Sauganash on its first Winter trip (having missed out last year). I taught them about Buckthorn ID, a kind of intro into winter tree identification. If you have a fourth grader, ask them about it! Below is a photo of my drawing of buckthorn, and the 6 ways to ID it in Winter. For all classes, we went over strategies for staying warm in winter, the science of heat transfer, insulation, the burning of sugar in our cells to keep us warm, the risk to extremities, and wood craft techniques for staying warm: don’t get your feet wet! That said, the class last week reported that the slough was covered with ice and walkable, skateable, and break danceable. The slough is a shallow wetland. The river on the other hand, is completely off limits in winter. Observe ONLY.
I am in conversation with the 8th grade teachers to bring their students to the garden, to do some work, roast potatoes and drink spiced cider. (They missed out during last Fall’s Harvest Day). I am wondering if anyone has a spare Weber grill to donate. Our last one succumbed to rust. Let me know.
I also wonder if anyone has an extra flat sled to donate (or loan) to haul our tools over the snow to the worksite at Sauganash. Let me know, as well. Please remember that our field ecology calendar is updated and posted on the website watersecology.org
The Room 216 Sauganash trip canceled because of cold last week is tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday, February 16.
There are regular volunteer workdays at Sauganash. During winter, tasks include cutting and burning buckthorn, an awesome spectacle in the cold of winter with bright new snow. Below I have copied the invitation sent out by steward Jeff Skrentney (former Waters Dad) that explains the procedure for participating.
Stay well,
Mr. Leki
We Need Volunteers for Sunday’s Third LaBagh Restoration Workday of 2022. Please email Jeff if you can join us. This is the only email I will be sending out… Grove #3, 945am Sunday!
LaBagh Restoration Volunteers, I continue to be pressed for time and need anyone not on the list below who can join us for the workday Sunday, January 23rd, to email me with a confirmation that you will attend. Right now my list for the day has 13 confirmed attendees:
January 23:Jeff Skrentny (xH, VWL, SS, BB), Linda Marton (H, VWL, SS, BB) & Dennis Marton (H, BB, Saw), Dave Katzman (H, SS, BB, SAW), Alan Sanders, Nate Bartlett & Jenna, Ellen Farar, Jim Hanson, JJ McLuckie, Janet Dawson, Deb Long Phillips, Becca Hallstedt (H22), Sharon Parmet, Megan Bernard (15 /13). PLEASE, do not just show up Sunday. Send me an email letting me know if you can attend, so I can build our workday crews. BUT, please sign up. We could easily use another 15-20+ volunteers to do trail work and remove buckthorn this Sunday, January 23rd.
Our Sunday workday will run from 10am to 1pm, arrive 9:45am, and the weather Sunday looks pretty enticing!!! Morning snowfall of 1-3 inches, followed by sun. It will be a bit cold though.
For our second workday of 2022, we had a GREAT turnout. The January 16th LaBagh Workday Crew: Maureen, Ben, Barbara, JJ, Becca, Pete, Molly, Joel, Cesar, Zac, Rob, John, Dennis, Debbie, Mike, David, Katie, Linda, Quinn, Ed, Allison, Kate, Patty, Ryan, Heidi, and not in photograph, burn boss Dave, and the photographer Jeff ****You are receiving this email because A) you have volunteered to help us at LaBagh, and thank you; ORB) you are part of the core LaBagh restoration team, as defined by your commitment to our restoration efforts, and thank you; OR C) you are one of our FPCC / NBRP / FOTFP leadership contacts, and thank you.****
As you all know, typically I send a day before the workday email to the crew, but this will serve as my ONLY email for our third workday of 2022, this Sunday, January 23rd. Those listed above, plus anyone who emails me saying they can join the crew, will be working to continue removing buckthorn and do trail upgrade work. Depending on who shows up, we need to herbicide A LOT of cut buckthorn, and we have seen to spread in the 1-3 inches of newly fallen snow we should have Sunday morning when we get to LaBagh. DRESS IN LAYERS. HAVE WARM BOOTS. We will have a fire, and that means, as best you can, avoid synthetic material winter coats. It is going to be a nice day, but a cold one Sunday. Double up on those socks, wear those LJs, and have a good hat and warm gloves. We will meet in the Grove #3 area, look for Dennis’ truck “Ella” and the “Volunteer” sign. That is where we will meet. Sign up at 945am, workday starts at 10am. Break will take place at 1130am. Questions, problems or worries, send Jeff a text message at 773.677.8852. Though I will be busy tomorrow at Robert’s sectionals (see photo below), I will have time to respond to all messages.
Please, Please, Please, sign up for these upcoming LaBagh workdays.
We are also looking for volunteers for all of these winter / early spring workdays which are:February 5th, 13th & 26thMarch 5th, 13th & 26thApril 3rd, 16th & 24th
PLEASE JOIN US! You can do so by replying to Jeff, listing the dates you can volunteer. From those volunteer responses, we will build our crews for those dates listed above. We are only successful with our LaBagh restoration because of our volunteers. Please consider helping us this weekend, next weekend or for a workday in the winter of 2022. We just can’t do this without the help we get from our community volunteers. ****************************************************************************************************AS ALWAYS, please remember,
if you don’t already have a FPCC Volunteer Profile, we would REALLY like to encourage you to create a profile on the FPCC website at: https://ec.samaritan.com/recruiter/index.php?recruiterID=1405&class=VolunteerRegistration Additionally, if you are not aware, we have two groups on Facebook that you may find of interest. Please join these groups for updates and photos from LaBagh, if you are interested:My Years Birding at LaBagh Woods – www.facebook.com/groups/myyearsbirdingatlabaghwoods/LNB (Lower North Branch) Habitat Heroes – www.facebook.com/groups/LNBHabitatHeroes/ Finally, we are always interested in having our volunteers learn more about doing restoration in the FPCC. There are many classes that can greatly enhance your volunteer experience. Here is a link to see what classes are currently available: https://ec.samaritan.com/recruiter/index.php?class=OppSearchResults&recruiterID=1405&urgency=590,520 Our LaBagh team is always looking for volunteers to take the Invasive Species ID class, and we always need more volunteers who can be Brush Pile Burn bosses after taking that class and doing the appropriate observations. We always need more folks to apply herbicide, and we will let everyone know when the sign up for the class for the one year license to use herbicide is available. **************************************************************************************************** Thank you ALL, for everything you all do for LaBagh Woods. It is a small, but critically important urban FPCC holding, and we can’t do what needs to get done there, without the volunteer energy we get from each of you.
-jrrs
Jeff Skrentny
Chicago Ornithological Society (COS) Board of Directorslead volunteer for the LaBagh restoration project
It seems to me that I often collide with Holidays, unprepared to properly celebrate them. So it is with MLK Day. I would like to have shared with our students the whole breadth of King’s life and work, the courage, the love, and the fury. Furious Love. I would have liked to share the music, the music of Freedom and struggle, of joy and celebration. But time moves too quickly. It is a fool’s errand to even attempt it. I’ve come to think that we need to teach the culture of justice, struggle, and activism from the first day of school to the last. And with our lives and actions demonstrate for our children our determination to challenge racism and discrimination, inequality and inequity, poverty and despair. A profile of our city from downtown to the west side would create a graphic model of disparity: the skyscraping peaks of the wealthy down to the scrabble, rubbish-strewn streets of the poor and working classes. It was, arguably, King’s pivot to addressing social inequality and the role of the rich and mighty in using military force to dominate the wealth of the world that brought about his tragic end. Some years ago our students were taught a popular Mexican song: Por Un Mundo Mejor, which ends with a powerful refrain:
For a better world
Where there is a new sun
Because love is a color thing
For a better world
I want a ray of light
Enlightening everyone equally
It would be a fine thing for our students to carry with them this message of hope and commitment to a better world. I recently encountered a version that we recorded in 2004 at Waters with Ms. Zelle conducting and me on piano. A link to the original song is below as well as lyrics in Spanish and English.
This week, in ecology, we begin our Winter field trip schedule! On Wednesday, January 19, Third grade, Room 215, will bundle up and explore a Sauganash dressed in white, to track animals and remove the invasive species European Buckthorn. On Thursday, Jan 20, Room 216 will do the same. Winter trips are quite a miracle. Many things must come together: the Forest Preserve must approve the trip and order the buses, CPS must approve the trip, AND the weather must cooperate. Temperatures are ideally below freezing and above 15 degrees. In this range, the ground is frozen, the snow stays "dry", and our students will generally stay active and warm. We have taught them about basic heat loss and transfer, insulation and strategies to keep our bodies warm. Parents and volunteers meet by the fish tank at 9:00 for a briefing. We return to Waters at 12:30, so students can have lunch in a warm place.
Si entendieran que nada se logra
Con las guerras
Siempre por la paz
Puede haber una solución
No queremos ver contaminado el mar
Quiero ver ballenas
Volver a emigrar
Que vamos a hacer cuando
Los árboles no existan
Cuando el cielo azul
Se vea sólo en las revistas
Por qué no acabar con esta polución
Cuiden las especies que hay en extinción
Por un mundo mejor
Donde haya un nuevo sol
Porque el amor es cosa de color
Por un mundo mejor
Quiero un rayo de luz
Iluminando a todos por igual
Que vamos a hacer cuando
Los árboles no existan
Cuando el cielo azul
Se vea sólo en las revistas
If they understood that nothing is achieved
With wars
Always for peace
There may be a solution
We don't want to see the sea polluted
I want to see whales
Migrate again
What are we going to do when
Trees don't exist
When the blue sky
Look only in magazines
Why not end this pollution? Take care of endangered species
For a better world
Where there is a new sun
Because love is a color thing
For a better world
I want a ray of light
Enlightening everyone equally
What are we going to do when
Trees don't existWhen the blue sky
Look only in magazines
