The Commons » The Greenhouse

Garden Party for Ja’Daiza Johnson

tsmith — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 20:06:05 +0000

As a festive thank you and send off to our Commons Educator, Ja’Daiza Johnson, an informal garden party was held to celebrate her work and the growth of the garden. Faculty and staff who worked closely with Ja’Daiza and who benefited from her can-do attitude and agricultural expertise wished her well in her future endeavors in the Air Force. It was a great time to be in the garden and reflect on growth and opportunity across the board. Good luck, Ja’Daiza, and thank you!

Growing Spaces Community Day

tsmith — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 19:38:35 +0000

Growing Spaces Community Day, May 20th

Commons Educator Ja’Daiza Johnson and Commons Director Seth O’Bryan hosted a work day in the Harley Micro Farm to help prepare the rows for planting by cleaning up from the winter and distributing fresh top soil and compost on the garden beds. Several Harley families came out on a beautiful Saturday morning to get dirty and work hard to help ensure a strong growing season for the fruits and vegetables that will appear in our dining hall in the fall and serve as curricular material for our summer programs and fall classes. All ages found meaningful ways to plug into the activity. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and energy for our community garden!

Spring in the Greenhouse

tsmith — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 18:19:35 +0000

Even though the weather mid-April is still variable, the Greenhouse is starting to show signs of life and growth. Thanks to Ja’Daiza Johnson and the Food and Farm Lab class, many plant starters and seeds are being nurtured so that they can fill the high tunnel, micro farm, and green roof once the weather is right for outdoor planting!

Rochester Sustainability Collaborative meeting

tsmith — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 19:38:54 +0000

On the Friday afternoon before February break, Harley was delighted to host a meeting of the Rochester Sustainability Collaborative. This group is a network of regional organizations that collaborate on projects and assist with the development of sustainability programs. Members in attendance represented RIT, U of R, SUNY Geneseo, SWBR Architects, the Nature Conservancy, Constellation Brands, Wegmans, Community Compost, and The Harley School. Meg Malone Sternowski (Harley graduate in 2006) is one of the coordinators for the organization, which is one way Harley became involved with the collaborative.

The first part of the meeting involved a presentation by Brent Arnold (co-owner with Steven Kraft) about Community Composting and their current work. Harley currently works with Community Compost to offer expanded composting services for our dining hall and full school. After Brent’s presentation, Seth O’Bryan toured the group through the Commons, explaining how the students and community work to help drive sustainability efforts at Harley. At the end of the tour, Seth asked those present to complete some homework, asking for their input (as captains of industry, and not necessarily N-12 education) on how they would use the resources in the Commons and identifying the content standards of sustainability (as outlined by Jaimie Cloud’s work) addressed in each space.

History and Science combine!

tsmith — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 15:57:06 +0000

In a way to connect his 6th grade history students to their class content beyond the classroom walls, Raj Singaravelu utilized the large erosion table in the Greenhouse to let his students explore the kind of soil Sumarians would have worked with to create irrigation for their planted crops. The initial investigation asked the students to describe the quality of the soil, to identify the components of the layers, and to propose possible designs which would allow water to be delivered to large fields of plants.

Hartman celebration

tsmith — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 01:51:11 +0000

Sunday, January 29th marked a great moment in the history of Worlds Colliding…. Hartman Fest. This event was held in the Commons as a fun, casual way for everyone who has ever worked with Chris Hartman to gather together to wish him well as he says goodbye to Harley as a faculty member and pursues his Headwater Food business whole hog. Thanks to Seth O’Bryan, Jocie Kopfman, Ja’Daiza Johnson, and Vicki Hartman for organizing the afternoon celebration. Kyle Graves, our Designer in Residence, planned some engineering challenges for variety, and the Harley Dining Hall, Sara Hartman, and Zena Dorsey were gracious enough to bring food and beverages for the occasion.

Looking around the room, it was truly a great opportunity to make connections! Colleagues from Harley, Horizons, local universities, former students, neighbors, current Headwater staff, and community movers and shakers all rubbed elbows and swapped Hartman stories while wishing Chris and his family the best in this next chapter of their lives. We hope everyone who attended walked away inspired to stay connected and do great things in the future! Thanks to all who attended!

Flower show benefits hospice program

tsmith — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 20:00:48 +0000

The return from February break is made all the more wonderful, thanks to the Gallery Flower Display. Originally spearheaded by the former Middle School garden club, led by former faculty member Barbara Willard, this annual event has now transitioned into the hands of the Hospice class and some eager middle school faculty. Barbara Willard is still very involved in storing and initially “forcing” the bulbs, but the actual “planting” in the Gallery is in the hands of Ja’Dazia Johnson, Dan O’Brien, Doug Gilbert, James D’Amanda, our fabulous maintenance crew, and some eager student volunteers. The primroses were in full bloom, but the tulips and hyacinths were a little more reluctant this year. The flowers were maintained throughout the week by Hospice class and middle school watering volunteers. At the end of the week, the primroses were sold to benefit the Hospice program, and the other bulbs were relocated to the garden near the stairs in the Gallery. Those blooms will be available for sale during this week. Thanks to everyone who helped brighten our return to school in the midst of winter!

STEAM Fair

tsmith — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 19:51:36 +0000

In what is becoming an ever-expanding event at Harley, the STEAM Fair (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) was held all over campus on Thursday evening, February 12th. Science projects from 3rd-6th grade students were shared along with penguin habitats by Primary Two, many technology projects, some math challenges, and sample hands-on design thinking/science pursuits by 7th-12th graders.

CENTRUM:

The third grade students shared their solar-powered LED chandeliers in the Centrum, where they took Harley off the grid at that location, calculating an estimated $2 saved per day.

The Primary Two penguin habitats lined the back wall of the Centrum, showing the various homes for Emperor, Rockhopper, Little Blue, Gentoo, Adelie, and Chinstrap penguins.

MAIN GALLERY:

The main Gallery hosted the Fourth Grade science projects in-progress. These experiments are based on the field of research associated with the scientist or inventor the students chose to study for their biography unit in the fall. The research question, hypothesis and procedures were up for the visitors to learn more about and to offer their feedback on for the young scientists to use as they finish out their experiments after break.

The Gallery also had a range of technology projects by Mrs. Weber’s students, K-6th grade. Arduinos, programmable robots, design challenges and more were on display. Over at the stairwell, one of the 6th grader’s science experiment was in action, a Foucault pendulum!

COMMONS–TOP FLOOR:

Fifth grade science experiments were up on display in the BCCE, as well as a looping video of the Upper School robotics team robot accomplishing some very difficult and intricately-programmed actions.

COMMONS-MIDDLE FLOOR:

The Sixth Grade scientists spread between the two science classrooms to share their individual experiments with the gathered crowd. The Seventh Grade green wall project was also on display, as were the hydroponic basil and parsley plants, and the banana plants (sporting new growth in the happy warmth of the Greenhouse!).

COMMONS-BASEMENT:

In the Project Space, Workshop, and lobby of the ground floor of the Commons, recent pursuits and projects by the Middle School Design Thinking class and Upper School Design and Innovation Lab were on display. Several installations showing 1st trimester projects by 7th and 8th Grade Science were up for visitors to learn more about, too.

Food and Farm Lab field trip and assembly

tsmith — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 15:29:38 +0000

From Commons Educator, Ja’Daiza Johnson:

The Food and Farm lab students took a trip to Headwater Food Hub and Lagoner Farm last week. At the Hub, they learned about how they source and distribute local organic food to families, restaurants, and schools in the Rochester area. They also learned about storage of fresh foods and how different foods can range from very delicate to hearty. The Headwater Food Hub is also a certified B corporation, which means they work very hard to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. At Lagoner Farms, we enjoyed a delicious farm-to-table lunch and learned about their apple cider processing and about how they plant various crops to harvest almost year round. As a result of this trip, the class gained insight into local organic farming, processing, and distributing, as well as getting a look at all the behind the scenes work that goes on at the farms and in businesses that supply food from organic farms.

To culminate their travels and learning, the members of the Food and Farm Lab class presented an assembly for the Upper School. The assembly began with “performance art” of the class members eating salad, accompanied by Ben Doane on cello (Julie-O by Kevin Olusola–check it out) and images of the class pursuits throughout the trimester projected on the wall behind them. After their performance, the members of the class read their group poem, then invited all of the Upper School students and faculty to partake of the beautiful salad they had made which included greens and veggies grown at Harley and locally, with a delicate honey vinaigrette dressing. It was a delicious edible education!

Erosion and water table-6th Grade Science

tsmith — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 14:54:11 +0000

From 5th and 6th Grade Science teacher, Anneke Nordmark:

In the first weeks of school, 6th graders made observations of Allens Creek where it borders Harley’s campus. After a heavy rain storm, we went back outside and observed some differences in the location of sediment along the banks. We discussed how the stream might change over a long period of time and came back to the classroom to build models and investigate this idea.

In baking pans, using a small plateau made of sand and clay, we created and studied various scenarios ranging from a slow water trickle over the plateau to rushing floods. We elevated one end of the tray to see if slope impacted erosion and deposition. Students also designed and explored their own questions including how a dam or a waterfall would impact erosion.

With the help of Ja’Daiza Johnson and Chris Hartman, students scaled up their model. Using an old sink designed for developing photographs as the container, they created a much larger sand and clay plateau. Students placed a bucket with a dripping water tube at one end of their plateau and have been monitoring the erosion and deposition weekly. We’ve noticed how long erosion takes when the water drips slowly and have been able to witness the formation of a meander and large delta. Students placed small cubes on the plateau to represent houses, and we unleashed some flash flooding. Now that our model stream flow as returned to normal, we’re continuing to monitor the state of some houses placed very close to the water’s edge.

Come check out our model periodically and join us in making predictions as we continue to run this experiment in the coming weeks.