Education & Outreach - Focus on Chapman Elementary

West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (WMSWCD) staff is currently working on the Chapman Elementary School Vegetable Garden with parent volunteers and school staff. The goal is to develop integrated curriculum that meets state benchmarks and also gets students out in the garden to learn! As many schools integrate gardens into the classroom we hope to make these focused lesson plans available to all interested schools in our District, and beyond (Eventually, we hope to publish our resources on the website to make these widely available throughout the State). In addition, WMSWCD staff, in partner with the School and community partners, is exploring the opportunity to create a community garden on the Chapman Elementary School grounds. Aside from the vegetable garden, WMSWCD is controlling a highly invasive weed, Giant Knotweed, along the school grounds perimeter-near where community members gather to view migrating swifts. After this weed is controlled, WMSWCD will install a native plant learning garden with educational signage. WMSWCD was just awarded a Metro Central Enhancement Grant to help fund the installation of this Native Plant Learning Garden!