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Lewisville ISD Outdoor Learning Area
LISDOLA (Lewisville Independent School District Outdoor Learning Area) is an eighty-acre tract of land located on the south side of Lake
Lewisville Dam in Denton County. The landscape boasts wetlands, forests,
fields, rivers and streams and contains approximately five miles of hiking
trails.
The outdoor leaning area was created in the fall of 1999 when the school
district erected two portable classrooms. Soon after, the school district's
environmental education specialist asked the Denton County Master Gardeners to
assist in landscaping the areas around the parking lot and portable classrooms.
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The entrance to Lewisville Outdoor
Learning Area. |
The classroom building. |
The initial goals of the project included making the
site an attractive asset to the community, educating the public about the
benefits of using Texas native plants in landscaping, and creating a
wildlife habitat, specifically focusing on birds and butterflies.
The project provides
teachers, students and visitors with an outdoor, hands-on-educational
experience. The initial project was awarded first place in the
large association category by the Texas Master Gardener Association in 2000. |
| Argyle Elementary Reading
Garden When the wood fencing in front of three classrooms and the library at the
Argyle Elementary School was removed, a second grade teacher expressed a wish
for "someone to please plant something!" Fortunately, a
student's mother was a Denton County Master Gardener looking for a
project to embrace! Thus began a year-long project that ended with
an inviting reading garden outside the library and a complete re-design and
re-landscaping of the school's front entrance.
Best of all, the students, their parents, teachers, school
administrators and, of course, Master Gardeners all worked together to develop
gardening rules, to learn how plants grew, how worm
composting improves the soil, how to plant, water
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and start over when an unexpected frost hits. They also
learned how to schedule tasks and manage the costs of the projects. Local
businesses also became involved with donations of plants, soil and mulching
materials, paving bricks and even a few beneficial nematodes.
The success of this project is measured by the great pride the second graders
take in their Reading Garden and the beautifully landscaped school entrance.
Denton County Master Gardeners were proud to be involved with the project and
thank the students, teachers, parents and administrators for their support.
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 Newton Rayzor
Elementary School Outdoor Learning Area
A new project for 2004, this three-sided courtyard garden
is currently under construction. Master Gardeners and students from
all grades at Newton Rayzor Elementary school are busy designing a native
plant shade garden.
Master Gardeners will assist small groups of students
through installation, planting, weeding, mulching and building lasagna
beds. What's a lasagna bed? Ask a student at Newton Rayzor
Elementary; they
know.
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Children's Arbor Day
Each spring, Denton County Master Gardeners support the Children's Arbor Day
project sponsored by Keep Denton Beautiful. Master Gardeners and volunteers from
other community organizations present an Arbor Day program and distribute Redbud
seedlings to all third grade students in Denton.
Using a tree seedling for demonstration, Master Gardeners discuss how to
identify redbud trees and the correct way to plant and care for the new tree
seedling as it grows. Each student is given a tree seedling with planting
instructions to take home and plant in his or her own yard. This project is a
wonderful opportunity to introduce the Denton third grade students and their
teachers to the importance and beauty of trees in our community.
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Downing Middle School
Butterfly Garden
This project is so new
it's still being designed. Check back for project updates and pictures of
the student's progress.
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