Our year is over and the Nursery room is being cleaned and stacked and wrapped to be ready for Becky and her deep summer clean. Once I am finished putting the Nursery room to sleep, the floors will be stripped and waxed and polished along with the rest of the school to be ready for fall. Thanks to all who were able to come to the end-of-the-year Work Bee. Your help is greatly appreciated. So much got done, both inside and out!

As an end to their year together, Nurseries dictated two separate group snack menus for their two blow-out snacks. We had the opportunity to plan two "last" days in the Nursery this year and both turned into fruit feasts. As you can see from their menus, fruit is a favorite food item.
 
Thursday: "strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, raspberries, cheese, nuts, potato chips."

Friday: "watermelon, blueberries, cherries, blackberries, mango, applesauce, seaweed, coconut, cheese, nuts, potato chips."

Along with our two last-day snacks, the Nurseries cleaned out their cubbies to make the end of our year together a bit more concrete for them; plus they all set aside their most loved snack helper names to take home!

We had ten Painted Lady caterpillars that were gifted by a Nursery family to spend a large part of May with us. We watched them eat and eat, grow and grow, and become chrysalids, quietly and invisibly busy as they became Painted Lady butterflies. They all emerged from the chrysalis shell during our last week and a half. We released them over several days as well fed and beautiful butterflies when they signaled they were ready to take flight and leave their habitat for the outside world.

Inspired by nature and specifically butterflies, we are in the early stages of creating a garden with native host and pollinator plants. The idea is for the children to be able to watch and experience in a natural setting while attracting pollinators and other wildlife. More first steps on this were taken at the Work Bee... several school families worked for hours to do some major honeysuckle and multiflora rose removal along the old stone wall. Four hackberry trees were uncovered and saved in the process, along with at least two wild cherry trees. So it feels like we are on the way!

Below is one of the hackberry trees newly emerged from the honeysuckle overgrowth!

Thank you All and many wishes for an enjoyable and growing summer.

Ann