Here are some pictures from the May 2nd unveiling of Flower Hill to the public after adding trails and a small gravel parking area. This is a follow-up to the workday I noted earlier. I have still been going to the Irvin Learning Farm (almost) every Thursday, but I have not had much to blog about, so you can console your need for TLC news by viewing the following pictures:
Tags: conservation, pictures, rhododendron, volunteer
The TLC finally posted some pictures of the Irvin Learning Farm featuring the tipi, but they are not from the raising. Instead, the pictures are from an open house they had this past Saturday. In any case, they give a feel for what the place looks like right now:
Tags: conservation, farm, pictures, volunteer
The Teen Career Academy is coming to the end of session and, therefore, trying to graduate a number of students near the end of the GED program. As a result, there has been some reshuffling. I am now assigned to two students, Alrinez and Matthew, who are about to take the math test. My schedule has been reduced to Tuesdays, but I will be meeting with both students and reviewing their weakest areas with them until they have passed the exam.
Today was a workday at the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Flower Hill Nature Preserve near the Johnston and Nash County border. A gravel parking area was just recently installed and we were doing some clean up. Specifically, we spread mulch to stabilize loose soils and we cleared out trees that were felled during construction. Additionally, we cleared a path for a new segment of trail that is to connect existing segments to the parking area. Though I may not make it, there are also workdays scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. The results of all this effort will be shown off during the Flower Hill Celebration and Rhodo Ramble, which takes place on Saturday May 2nd from 10am to noon. It is called the Rhodo Ramble because Flower Hill is home to an isolated population of native rhododendron. Like the white pines of White Pines Nature Preserve in Chatham County, these rhododendron would normally be at home somewhere closer to the mountains or the foothills.
Tags: conservation, rhododendron, volunteer
I had earlier promised to post pictures from my adventures raising a tipi at the Irvin Learning Farm. I checked for them today, and they have yet to be posted by the TLC. However, I did notice some pictures from an earlier outing to their White Pines Nature Preserve in Chatham County. On February 27th, we were collecting white pine seedlings. These seedlings were to be taken to a nursery where they would grow into saplings that would have a better chance at survival. These saplings will later be replanted on the nature preserve. The reason the TLC protects the White Pines Nature Preserve is that it is an isolated population of trees that would normally only naturally occur further west in the mountains. This activity of collecting and replanting seedlings is meant to insure the future of this unique population. Anyway, here are the pictures from TLC:
Tags: conservation, pictures, seedling, volunteer, white pines
The other place I have been volunteering is the Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC). One of the ways that I have been doing this is as part of the Conservation Corps, which meets every Thursday at the Irvin Learning Farm. The farm is an 1880′s homestead that is being developed as a model farm to demonstrate traditional and sustainable farming techniques as well as for an after-school and summer environmental education camp for kids. Recent activity at the farm has been related to the construction of a tipi that is to be used as part of the camp. For the past few weeks, we made poles for the tipi from red cedar found on the farm, from which we stripped the bark. Today, we raised the tipi and wrapped it in a canvas cover. The cover is plain right now, but an artist has agreed to paint it. The raising was covered by TLC publicists, so I expect to post pictures in the future.
Tags: conservation, farm, tipi, volunteer
This week is Spring Break at the Teen Career Academy. This means that I have some extra time on my hands at the beginning of this week as I will not have any tutoring to do. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can do some things outside, but this is looking to be unlikely.
Since having been let go as part of the downsizing at The John R. McAdams Company, I have been volunteering for a couple of organizations. One of these is the Durham Literacy Center. I have been tutoring from Monday to Wednesday for the Teen Career Academy that meets at the John Avery Boys and Girls Club. It is a GED program for teens that have dropped out of high school. So far, I have been tutoring math. My first student, Richard, took the exam last Thursday, so I have switched to a new student, Marcus. We have started off near the beginning with fractions. The subject will end with algebra and geometry, at which point Marcus should also take the GED math exam.
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