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Hunt School Discovery
Garden and Rainwater
Catchment System |
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Hill Country Master
Gardeners take what they
have learned and share
their knowledge with the community
according to their
expertise and interests.
The Hunt School in Hunt,
Texas is the beneficiary
of HCMGs' efforts. The Discovery
Garden was begun 12
years ago as a project
of the Hunt Garden Club
whose membership
currently includes 11 HCMGs who contribute an
hour a week during the
school year working
directly with the
students and many
additional hours
preparing the weekly
lessons and planning and
coordinating the annual.
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The Junior Master
Gardener Group Award
of 2010
was presented to the
Hunt Garden Club and the
Hunt School of Kerr
County at the Annual
State Master Garden
Convention in Las
Colinas on April 9,
2010. Accepting the
award were from left to
right Georgia Roth,
garden club member, and
HCMG members Bernadell
Larson-Thompson, and
Sandy Martin. Lisa
Whittlesey, Extension
Program Specialist,
National Junior Master
Gardener Coordinator of
the Texas AgriLife
Extension Service at
Texas A&M University,
right, presented the
award.
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Garden Club
member/Master Gardener
Bernadell Larson’s
special interest is
water conservation and
environmentally safe
construction practices.
Larson conceived the
idea of adding a small
water catchment system
to provide water for the
garden. The idea caught
fire among members of
the small community.
More than $15,000 in
goods and services have
been donated, with
$3,000 of that as
in-kind donations. The
result is a system that
collects and stores
20,000-gallons of rain
water; and, the tank was
filled after the October
2009 rains. Read
about the
2009 Texas Rain Catcher
Award ► |
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There are several
schools that have
installed a rainwater
harvesting system at
their school site. What makes
this project unique is
that the practical
application and
operation of the system
was incorporated into
the students’ math and
science curriculum. The
students took ownership
of the design and made a
presentation to the
school board on the
project. And, when the
system was fully
functional, the school
held a Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony on November 3,
2009 to celebrate their
new system.
The school and project team
are not resting. They
decided on a next phase,
which is to install a
solar pump and pressure
regulator to more
efficiently feed the
drip irrigation system.
This year, the students
will have an opportunity
to learn about solar
energy.
The Hunt School has a
good school/community
partnership. This
project is further
enhancing that
relationship by
providing the students
with cross-generational
learning opportunities
and experience in
problem solving skills. |
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