Bryant Natural Wonders Courtyard

We love hearing about student’s who are helping to make a difference in our Courtyard and in our community. One of those student’s is David LeVasseur. Congratulations on your upcoming graduation and thank you for all that you have done for our courtyard!

Rain rain go away, Bryant students (and staff) just want to play!

With all the rain Michigan has been experiencing lately, it’s nice to get outside and enjoy those fleeting moments of sunshine. Below are students from Mrs. Blaylock’s  Extended Day class enjoying the sun. We hope to see more student’s enjoying the beauty of the courtyard once it stops raining!

If you find yourself in the courtyard, please snap a picture and send it to markn@dearbornschools.org or checkm@dearbornschools.org.

It’s starting to look like fall in the Bryant Natural Wonders Courtyard. The image below was taken by Mrs. Mark, when her Life Skills group visited the courtyard on 10/18/18.

Please click the link below to read an essay written by Bryant’s very own Jessica Koehler, a 7th grade student. Included in her essay are great ideas for classroom activities in the courtyard.

Bryant Natural Wonders Essay

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who stopped by the Natural Wonders Courtyard Wednesday night during the open house. A total of $166.00 was raised in donations! A special thank you goes out to Dr. Glenn Maleyko, The Alenzi Family, The DeKoning Family, and The Farhat Family for their donations. Your names will soon be added to the plaque featured below. Free raffle tickets were also given to parents who visited the courtyard. Congratulations to our raffle winners Yasmeen Klaik, Mariam Homayed, and Ali Chahine! Enjoy your Tim Hortons gift cards! 

 Above is the “Sponsors of Bryant’s Natural Wonders Courtyard” plaque that is showcased outside of the front office. Would you like to see your name on the plaque too? Make a $50.00 donation as an individual sponsor or a $100.00 donation as a business sponsor. All checks should be made out to “Courtyard Club”.  For more information regarding donations, please contact Nicole Mark at 313-827-2910.

Dr. Maleyko, students, and staff smile for pictures in the Courtyard at the Bryant Open House (9/12/18)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

“Thank You” to Emily Maginity and her mom, Lynn Maginity, for helping to keep the courtyard looking beautiful this summer. Emily said that she helped in the courtyard by pulling weeds and getting rid of some of the dead flowers. She also started growing a lemon tree at home this summer!

Pictured above is Emily with the Bryant’s Natural Wonders sign.

We hope you all had a wonderful summer!  We are happy to have you at Bryant Middle School and can’t wait to see you in the courtyard! 

Welcome summer! 

Whether you had class indoors or outdoors, you’ve worked hard and are no doubt looking forward to a relaxing and/or adventurous vacation!

Much appreciation goes to those who used and helped shape the Courtyard into a pleasant and workable space.

Special recognition goes to the 8th Grade Student Council who, along with Mrs. Lessel, decided on the keepsake they wanted to donate to the Courtyard.  We hope they enjoy their summer vacation and wish them all the best in High School!

“Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that’s always changing!” 
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Thanks also goes to Mr. Renko for donating a bird feeder.

According to the  Michigan Bird Records Committee (MBRC), there are 450 species included in the official list of birds that are associated with Michigan.  The one pictured here is a sparrow.

Elsewhere in the Courtyard, the summer blooms are arriving:

rose                                   phlox                                sweet william

The Girl Scouts arrived and did a great job pulling weeds and planting decorative flowers at the edge of the butterfly garden.  Pizza was provided for them as well so they had plenty of energy for completing their task!

To keep the Courtyard looking it’s best requires a lot of dedication and work.  For that we wish to especially thank Mrs. Ruth Tozzi and Mrs. Nicole Mark.  Their consistent effort maintaining, pruning, weeding, and planting, continue to make the Courtyard a place we can all enjoy.  If you wish to volunteer to help over the summer, please sign up here:

 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084aa5ab22a1f94-natural  or call Mrs. Tozzi to set up a time that works.

If  you would like to donate a plant, currently the Courtyard is asking for columbine and trumpet vines.

Thank you very much and have a great summer!

~ Courtyard Committee~

Mrs. Doner’s enrichment class has been helping in the Courtyard.  Here are some of their reflections:

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Natural Wonders

When you think of a garden and a pond, you don’t think of one being at school. Well at Bryant Middle School things are different.  We believe that students should always have access to nature. What I am talking about is the Natural Wonders AKA the Courtyard. The Courtyard is right next to the cross walk. When you are in the Courtyard you are closer to nature at school. For example, after a storm we went to the Courtyard to check out the pond. We saw tadpoles in the pond and we took pictures of them. We also like to reuse old things. Like, there was a rusted wheelbarrow and we took it, added rocks on the bottom, then put soil on top of it, then we took flowers and planted them in the wheelbarrow. It looks fabulous! So stop by our Bryant “Natural Wonders” and explore all it has to offer.  

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Mrs.  Lessel took her eighth grade English class outside.  They were reading, studying and working cooperatively while enjoying the Courtyard.

~Special Thanks to Mrs. Lessel and the Student Council for their ongoing support and encouragement for use of the Courtyard~

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

-The Courtyard Committee

With the guidance of Mrs. Gass, four students from Mrs. Doner’s enrichment class garden-sculpted an old wheelbarrow.

First, they asked Mr. Mathers to drill some holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow to drain excess water.  Then,  some of the students from the enrichment class added small stones for extra drainage.  Too much water can kill the plants.

Next, they poured in the potting soil and arranged the plants until they were happy with the arrangement BEFORE taking them out of their pots. They finished with a work of art!

Other students from Mrs. Doner’s enrichment class helped paint benches in the Courtyard.

While out in the Courtyard one afternoon, Mrs. Duquette and her class spotted ducks in the pond…

and finches and cardinals in the trees…

Meanwhile~

Mrs. Lessel’s Student Council has taken a leadership role in encouraging the use of the Courtyard an outdoor classroom. They have been discussing with Mrs. Tozzi and Mrs. Mark ideas for how they can best contribute to such use.  We look forward to their ideas and input.

We continue to encourage your use of the Courtyard as an outdoor classroom!

Enjoy class outside ~

Enjoy the Warm Weather.

Calling All Bryant Families! We are looking for volunteers to help maintain the Bryant Natural Wonders Courtyard this summer. Will you have an hour or two to spare? If you and your family enjoy being outside and want to take a part in enjoying and keeping this outdoor classroom looking good, email Ruth Tozzi at rutht44@yahoo.com or sign up with the sign-up genius provided by the PTA:  VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084aa5ab22a1f94-natural

Ruth attended the last PTA meeting and some parents have already volunteered to help! Mrs. Tozzi talked about the history of the Courtyard. She also talked about its present state and future plans.

She reiterated that the more volunteers we have, the more we can make a difference in the wonderful resource! Thank you for your interest and participation!

Last week, Mr. Brown’s advanced math class took full advantage of a brief break between morning and afternoon M-Step testing. They measured another area of the Courtyard for more pea gravel.
     

The pea gravel was ordered by Mrs. Tozzi and spread on Friday by strong staff members including Mr. Borg, Mr. Blake, Mr. Kerr, and Mr. Kettel who volunteered their time after school. Flower beds were cleaned up and flowers planted by Mrs. Doner, Mrs. Tozzi, Mrs. Debiasi and Mrs. Mark.
Thank you, Thank YOU, THANK YOU!

Mrs. Doner’s enrichment class will be spending time in the courtyard this week spreading mulch in the flower beds. They may also take advantage of the warm weather this week by doing their classroom presentations in the Courtyard.

If you go out to the Courtyard you will see trees, bushes and flowers beginning to bud and bloom. Below is a decorative peach (decorative only, the peaches are inedible!)

The pond has been drained and refilled. Can anyone answer this question: How does a leach make its way into a man-made pond with no water source besides a garden hose and rain? Ask Mrs. Mark why she wants to know.

Also, a Girl scout troop is interested in helping on May 18. They will assist with planting new plants that attract butterflies.

It seems that Spring is finally here!

Not only has it been unexpectedly cold outside, but Bryant school and many of the residences in the community have been without power.

If you’re wondering why the weather has been so icy when it should be spring, Dale Eck from the Global Forecast Center at the Weather Channel offers an explanation:

After last Friday’s wonderful warm up, Michigan is experiencing a strong storm (blizzard) coming out of the Rockies, over the Northern Plains and Great Lakes, bringing more cold weather for the week ahead.  Combined with last week’s Canadian just streams ‘dislodging the cold air from the poles”, Michigan spring seems to be on hold and Courtyard activities temporarily ‘put on ice’!

As the state of Courtyard is being assessed, Ruth Tozzi reported that one of the white pine trees had to be removed.  According to Mrs. Tozzi, “the pine tree disease that caused it’s demise, is “rust” spore.  It starts at the end of the branch and works it’s way through the tree.” For more information about this particular problem see the following site:

https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/Threats/blister-rust-threat.htm

We’re glad to say that one white pine still stands!

~ The Courtyard Committee