New sign for the walking trail and first graders visit the garden

This week the guys finished installing the new walking trail sign and completed a few picnic tables (in the background) for the STARworks building. The new sign will be used to convey information about the importance of walking and ways to incorporate activity into daily life.

The sign is located in the front of the building near our recycled rubber walking trail built last year with a grant from Fit Community and North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund. The recycled rubber walking surface is low impact and rather bouncy as seen below.
The first graders released as many wiggles as possible before their visit to the garden. After the kids ran around the track a few times and got rid of some excess energy we took them around the back of the building where they had a workshop in the with Anne about planting and gardening. In this picture the kids are painting signs for their own gardens at home. Anne will deliver their signs this week along with a packet of mystery seeds that they can plant at home and watch grow. The first graders were a blast and have boundless energy. They also have a way of draining the energy out of grown-ups! By the end of the day Anne, Tony and I were pretty exhausted. We had one group on Thursday and one on Friday for a total of 38 screaming first-graders. They had a blast and are ready to come back soon. STARworks Garden provides workshops for elementary school students free of charge to the school or students, but that doesn't mean that the workshops are free! Workshops like this for kids with not be possible without private contributions to STARworks garden. At STARworks with think it's important that kids learn where their food comes from and that they can grow their own food at home. Kids can come to our garden to learn about where their food comes from, how worms help soil, compost and gardening . These kids had a great time and they even enjoyed pulling weeds! To make a tax deductable donation to STARworks garden or any Central Park NC project, click here.