A Rain Garden is Coming to Russell Courtyard, Teachers College

Here's a copy of the article:

"TC Awarded the $10,000 FilterForGood Eco-Challenge Grant

TC has been chosen as one of five schools across the nation to receive the 2010 $10,000 FilterForGood Eco-Challenge Grant from Brita, Inc. Colin Schumacher, a M.A. candidate in Inclusive Elementary Education and teacher at the Rita Gold Early Childhood Center, received the grant on behalf of the Teachers College Go Green Committee. The grant will be used to construct a rain garden demonstration site in TC’s Russell Courtyard, which will include an array of native plant species, a composting center, rain collection barrels and children’s mosaics created in collaboration with the Art and Art Education Program.

Rain gardens collect water from surrounding rooftops and use the root systems of native plants to absorb storm water and filter it from pollutants. In New York City, “storm water washes across miles of concrete, carrying with it transportation chemicals, salt and numerous other pollutants,” Schumacher says. “With water treatment facilities exceeding capacity, every year billions of gallons of untreated storm water and raw sewage are released into nearby watersheds. Rain gardens, green roofs and public parks are all essential components to a comprehensive storm water management plan for New York City.”

Schumacher has been involved in educating the community about environmental sustainability since he enrolled at Teachers College in the spring of 2008. At that time, he founded a community garden which has since been cared for and maintained by the preschool children of the Rita Gold Center. Schumacher plans to collaborate with elementary school teachers to “design and teach curriculum on storm water runoff and rain garden ecology.” Participating classrooms will have the opportunity to design tiles for the Russell Courtyard garden under the guidance of TC artists.

Plans for the garden are already underway, with instillation of the garden structure scheduled to begin in early April. The native plants and children’s art will be installed in late May following commencement.

For more information about the rain garden, or to get involved, please e-mail Colin Schumacher at cjs2149@columbia.edu. For more information about the Go Green Committee, please contact me at gogreentc@gmail.com or visit our website http://blogs.tc.columbia.edu/gogreen.

As always, keep it green!"

Teachers College will also be putting in children's garden soon (16 large square planters and a dozen window box planters),
Stay tuned for more information on how to help out!