![\"greenhouse](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/greenhouse-girls1.jpg\")
<\/a>Don\u2019t let their delicate flower headbands fool you.<\/p>\nThey battle unruly weeds. They construct benches. And they convert car and truck tires into planters. All with their bare hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeeds don\u2019t stand a chance around the Greenhouse Girls,\u201d proclaimed Seatack Elementary gifted resource teacher Marie Culver.<\/p>\n
Move over, Marvel Comics superheroes. The Greenhouse Girls are ready to show their might.<\/p>\n It was Coss who initiated their work.\u00a0She approached Culver to ask how she could help in the school garden like she\u2019d seen her male peers doing every morning. Culver established the all-boys Garden Breakfast Club last year as a unique way to provide male students with additional support.<\/p>\n Coss wanted in on the fun, and she knew of a few female classmates who were also interested.<\/p>\n Enter Ramirezhuezo and Rao. The two were already involved with Culver\u2019s Go Green Club, and they wanted more work in the garden than their monthly club meetings provided.<\/p>\n So in February, the Greenhouse Girls were formed, and the trio got to work.<\/p>\n Coss credits Ramirezhuezo with the Greenhouse Girls\u2019 signature flower headbands, inspired by their studies of ancient Greece. \u201cShe\u2019s more of a fashionista,\u201d said Coss.<\/p>\n Each grade level has a place to grow flowers, plants or vegetables. There is a mentor garden,\u00a0stump seating area, picket fence, greenhouse, bowling-ball solar system sandbox and more.<\/p>\n And while funding from generous VBEF grant underwriters may have established the green space, garden maintenance and growth are credited entirely to Seatack students.<\/p>\n It is work of which they are extremely proud.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s about freedom of choice. I mean, look \u00a0\u0336 this garden is literally run by children,\u201d said Coss when asked about her favorite part of being a Greenhouse Girl.<\/p>\n Ramirezhuezo and Rao agree that being outside and taking care of the flowers and plants are what they like best.<\/p>\n As the trio of girls set out to tackle their arch nemesis \u2013 weeds \u2013\u00a0the Breakfast Club boys are moving wheelbarrows of mulch and spreading it throughout the garden. Culver noted that while there are \u201cthe girls\u201d and \u201cthe boys,\u201d there is only teamwork, not rivalry, to ensure the school garden thrives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe boys are really appreciative of the girls helping with the weeds. They know the girls won\u2019t miss any because they are so detail-oriented,\u201d Culver praised.<\/p>\n The students are combining forces for an upcycling project to convert car tires into a pollinator garden that will decorate the back corner of their green space.<\/p>\n \u201cI like bright colors,\u201d admits Coss, and her fellow Greenhouse Girls agree. Two wicker chairs Culver found on the side of the road bound for the dump will be spray painted in equally-bright colors and placed near the garden entrance. The girls wonder out loud why anyone would want to throw out two perfectly good chairs.Do the girls have gardens of their own?<\/p>\n \u201cWe started planting flowers in our front yard, and my mom\u2019s thinking about putting in a vegetable garden,\u201d said Ramirezhuezo.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just started one this weekend,\u201d said Coss. \u201cI have three pots, some with tomatoes and some with basil.\u201d<\/p>\n As fifth graders, the Greenhouse Girls will take their gardening skills to middle school next year \u2013 Coss to Kemps Landing\/Old Donation School, Rao to Virginia Beach Middle and Ramirezhuezo to the Middle Years Program at Plaza Middle School.<\/p>\n Who will combat the weeds when they are gone?<\/p>\n Some of the girls plan to visit with their families this summer to help take care of Seatack\u2019s garden.\u00a0Also, they hope to find or initiate similar opportunities in middle school.<\/p>\n Given the positive mark left by the Greenhouse Girls\u2019 hard work this spring, one doubts Culver will have trouble recruiting new female student gardeners.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be happy to train them,\u201d said Coss.<\/p>\n Weeds, beware.<\/p>\n Meet the Greenhouse Girls \u2013 Kendall Coss, Kailey Ramirezhuezo and Aneeya Rao. Don\u2019t let their delicate flower headbands fool you. They battle unruly weeds. They construct benches. And they convert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-connections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3808"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6382,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions\/6382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a>A Virginia Beach Education Foundation (VBEF) grant funded by RRMM Architects, P.C. helped Seatack break ground on its garden last school year. With additional VBEF grant funding this year from the Future Leadership Partners of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, the school garden continues to grow.<\/p>\n<\/a>The girls may have had a hand in the color selection. Tires painted turquoise, lavender, coral and lime green are scattered about to dry before the students roll them into place.<\/p>\n<\/a>To learn more about how you or your organization may support schools\u2019 innovative learning projects through the Virginia Beach Education Foundation, visit <\/em>vbef.org<\/em><\/a> or contact Debbie Griffey at 757-263-1337.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"