Cragmont Elementary
Outdoor Classrooms for East Bay Students.
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Youth Impacted
SUGi partners with schools across the globe to plant ultra-dense, biodiverse forests closer to the classroom. Berkeley, California is now home to the first three Miyawaki School Forests in the United States.
Students at Cragmont Elementary are able to benefit from the direct health effects of urban forests. Learning in Nature can improve a child’s behavior, helping them build stronger relationships, reduce stress and anger, and heighten curiosity. Even seeing Nature from a school building fosters creative thinking and expands the imagination.
Today’s kids spend a whopping 44 hours a week in front of a screen and less than 10 minutes a day playing outside. Access to Nature is not equal; it’s too often dictated by where you live, your race and income level. These forests are a big leap forward in resetting the balance.
Forest Maker
Ethan Bryson
Forest Partner
Forest Report: 2023
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This forest is blossoming. It's located in the center of the elementary school campus, so 350 children are exposed to Nature every day. It's been a STEM learning experience for children. There have been sightings of hummingbirds, chickadees, and towees, as well as various kinds of butterflies, moths, and various species of bees. The native leaf-cutting bees have left evidence of their nest building activities - many leaves have semi circles cut from them.
Leaf litter is building up on the site, as some of the deciduous trees have already shed their leaves, though many of the California native plants are evergreen and will keep their leaves through the winter. The Coyote brush and California sagebrush are doing particularly well, covered in flowers gone to seed. The wood roses had many rose hips, and the California blackberries and native honeysuckle have both sent out long creeping vines.
Biodiversity Notes:
Forest Report: 2022
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This forest has given students a sense of hope and agency in the face of an alarming acceleration towards the climate crisis. After the planting day last year, students commented: ‘It was the best day of my life.’ Many of the pupils named their plants and, even after a year, still remember exactly which tree they planted and where it was.
The growth of the trees has been exponentially greater than what we could have ever imagined. The forest is now so dense that one can hardly walk through it, and the trees are so tall, you can barely see the tops!
“As the science and climate literacy teacher at Cragmont, it makes me extremely proud to see this tiny project blossoming and bringing so much hope and pure beauty to so many people.“
- Neelam Patil, SUGi Forest Maker
Biodiversity Notes:
Prior to planting, the students would run across the site. It was uncared for, discarded, and unhealthy. Now there are ladybugs, butterflies, bees, and the soil is much healthier and full of life. Local hummingbirds - including Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) come for a snack, and the local flora and fauna is making a resurgence in the area.
“I can't say enough about how important this project is for our community and for our children. Most of the time, we just feel powerless as we watch the planet get hotter and experience longer and longer fire seasons in California. This is a very specific and progressive way to sink carbon and change the direction of the planet's temperature rise. I'm excited to include this solution in my curriculum this school year and beyond.“
Ms. Neelam Patil, M.Ed., MFA, Science Teacher at Cragmont and Oxford Elementary Schools
Planting: November 2021
