Bob Jones Nature Center Ollie’s Greening Up

I am co-teaching a pilot project out at the Bob Jones Nature Center, in conjunction with the Fort Worth After School program. We have a group of about 25 students, middle school and high school, from Rosemont and Daggett middle schools and Eastern Hills High School, that are traveling over to the BJNC to experience Nature and Art. The Program called Ollie’s Greening Up, in honor of Darrin Oliver No. 28, pitcher for the Texas Rangers, a Southlake resident, outdoor/nature lover, who is helping to fund the project. We will be covering two citizen science projects, the Urban Bird Watch and Monarch Tagging; as well as conservation issues. Marshall Grain in Grapevine will be providing a tour of their facility, along with information about the green nursery business. The students will get to plant some milkweed seeds, that will be kept at the greenhouse at BJNC. These will eventually provide food and habitat for Monarchs. All of the information presented to the students will be incorporated into an art journal. Students will be creating their own art journals, depicting events and aspects of nature that they will be exposed to in this project. The students are really enjoying creating in their journals and we are all enjoying nature and art!