Cinquegranelli's previous location was located next to Baker Park. While Cinquegranelli's location has moved, Baker Park is still there. The information about Cinquegranelli and Baker Park is here because it reminds us of the importance of the outdoors and our connection to the Earth.
Children Act Locally, Think Globally
By MARIANNE SORENSEN SCHOLL
On an unusually dry morning last week, children from Cinquegranelli Montessori Center were busy fulfilling their contract with Seattle’s Parks and Recreation Department.The three to eight year olds have each agreed to "adopt" Crown Hill's Baker Park located next to their school at 1405 NW 85th Street. They patrol for litter each day before they play in the park’s meadow, forest and butterfly garden. Their sharp eyes keep the park free of broken bottles, trash and even cigarette butts.
"They give the feeling that the park is loved and looked after, and this discourages excessive trashing" says Andrea Faste, the president of the Whittier Heights Community Council. "The children are nourished by the park's open and semi-wild spaces,and they, in turn, are nourishing the park."
Baker Park grew out of years of community effort to bring much needed open space to Crown Hill. When the Parks and Recreation Department's Open Space Program purchased the half-acre Baker property in 1991, the area had the least open space per capita in Seattle after downtown. But the city did not have the money to develop the property into a park, leaving it up to Crown Hill and neighboring Whittier Heights to create a usable public space.
Groundswell Northwest, a Ballard group that helps communities create parks (see SP 2/24 -ed.), and Whittier Heights Community Council received a grant from the Neighborhood Matching Fund to pay most of the major costs of the project, but the designing, planting and shoveling was the neighborhood's responsibility.
Cinquegranelli students, parents and director Gail Longo joined the school's neighbors in transforming the neglected property, that was attracting drug users and transients, into a model neighborhood park. The students won a Department of Wildlife grant to create a pond and butterfly garden, and they transplanted many of the existing plants to the park’s “natural area.” They also participated in design workshops, helped raise money and contributed many of the 2,500 volunteer work hours required under the Neighborhood Matching Fund program.
When the rain isn't coming down in sheets, the children climb over two large granite boulders, hide in the maze of a giant rhododendron or look for life in the small pond. The gracefully landscaped park does not have a standard play structure, which suits Longo just fine. She wanted the property's natural setting and large number of trees to be preserved. Rather than offering children another fancy and expensive climbing structure, she wanted her students to experience open space and be left to their own creative devices. Her school subscribes to the Montessori idea that if a tree can't be brought into the classroom, the classroom must be brought to the trees. Caring for the earth and observing nature is woven into almost every aspect curriculum at Cinquegranelli. 'Children can take part in the care-taking of land, but they need to be taught how to do it,” she says.
The children’s stewardship of Baker Park has also linked them to schools around the world. They have sent books about their favorite places in the park to Somalia, Ecuador and Italy. In exchange, they received books and drawings about the land where other children play. Taking care of the park corresponding with children about the places they live is important to Anne Moser, a parent at the school. “It helps the children appreciate how small our world really is,” she says.
When the children enter the outdoor laboratory of the child-sized Baker Park, they begin to ponder their connection to the Earth. They being to walk on a path that winds around a meadow, they can skip around a rocky pond, weave through a butterfly garden and run down a slight slope into a shady grove of evergreens.
Baker Park Overview
The Meadow: The west lawn is large (30x80) and level enough (1-4% grades) for unstructured play (running, frisbee, volleyball). Surrounding the lawn area on the north and east are 16-24" raised planting beds with stacked seat wall-height broken concrete walls. The planters contain trees, shrubs, perennials, groundcovers and seasonal flowers.
The Natural Area: The south edge of the park is a natural area. Nurse logs, wet area plants, shade tolerant plants, butterfly attracting plants are planted with an aim to maintain visibility into the park to prevent hiding areas. A low area water-collecting feature is included in the wild area. Small deciduous native trees attract wildlife and provide screening along the south park edge.
The Forest: All the trees existing before the part are left intact and preserve the character of the old nursery, and additional planting has enhanced the forest.
The Totem
Standing tall in the west end of the park is the Raven Bear Frog Totem Pole, carved by Haida Tribe Frog Clan member Fred Lauthin the summer of 1999.
Tree frogs once lived on Crown Hill; children wonder why they are missing now. One question we ask them is: What are the conditions needed to restore their habitat?
Besides science, the totem has also offered a chance to learn about art. Thechildren's art of the totem teaches creativity, inspiration and a chance to see through their eyes.
Awards
Earth Hero Award 2002: Honors the children's environmental stewardship at Baker Park on Crown Hill. Signed by Ron Simms, King County Executive, May 2002. For more information regarding this program, visit the King County's Earth Legacy Initiative.
Certificate of Appreciation: Awarded by the Parks & Recreation Department for participating in Seattle's Millennium Project, Seattle Service AmeriCorp 2000 & Woods Legacy Project. Given May 28, 1999 by Paul Schell, Seattle City Mayor; Sue Donaldson, City Council President, Seattle Service AmeriCorp Co-chair 2000; and Ken Bounds, Parks and Recreation Superintendent.
Children Act Locally, Think Globally
By MARIANNE SORENSEN SCHOLL
On an unusually dry morning last week, children from Cinquegranelli Montessori Center were busy fulfilling their contract with Seattle’s Parks and Recreation Department.The three to eight year olds have each agreed to "adopt" Crown Hill's Baker Park located next to their school at 1405 NW 85th Street. They patrol for litter each day before they play in the park’s meadow, forest and butterfly garden. Their sharp eyes keep the park free of broken bottles, trash and even cigarette butts.
"They give the feeling that the park is loved and looked after, and this discourages excessive trashing" says Andrea Faste, the president of the Whittier Heights Community Council. "The children are nourished by the park's open and semi-wild spaces,and they, in turn, are nourishing the park."
Baker Park grew out of years of community effort to bring much needed open space to Crown Hill. When the Parks and Recreation Department's Open Space Program purchased the half-acre Baker property in 1991, the area had the least open space per capita in Seattle after downtown. But the city did not have the money to develop the property into a park, leaving it up to Crown Hill and neighboring Whittier Heights to create a usable public space.
Groundswell Northwest, a Ballard group that helps communities create parks (see SP 2/24 -ed.), and Whittier Heights Community Council received a grant from the Neighborhood Matching Fund to pay most of the major costs of the project, but the designing, planting and shoveling was the neighborhood's responsibility.
Cinquegranelli students, parents and director Gail Longo joined the school's neighbors in transforming the neglected property, that was attracting drug users and transients, into a model neighborhood park. The students won a Department of Wildlife grant to create a pond and butterfly garden, and they transplanted many of the existing plants to the park’s “natural area.” They also participated in design workshops, helped raise money and contributed many of the 2,500 volunteer work hours required under the Neighborhood Matching Fund program.
When the rain isn't coming down in sheets, the children climb over two large granite boulders, hide in the maze of a giant rhododendron or look for life in the small pond. The gracefully landscaped park does not have a standard play structure, which suits Longo just fine. She wanted the property's natural setting and large number of trees to be preserved. Rather than offering children another fancy and expensive climbing structure, she wanted her students to experience open space and be left to their own creative devices. Her school subscribes to the Montessori idea that if a tree can't be brought into the classroom, the classroom must be brought to the trees. Caring for the earth and observing nature is woven into almost every aspect curriculum at Cinquegranelli. 'Children can take part in the care-taking of land, but they need to be taught how to do it,” she says.
The children’s stewardship of Baker Park has also linked them to schools around the world. They have sent books about their favorite places in the park to Somalia, Ecuador and Italy. In exchange, they received books and drawings about the land where other children play. Taking care of the park corresponding with children about the places they live is important to Anne Moser, a parent at the school. “It helps the children appreciate how small our world really is,” she says.
When the children enter the outdoor laboratory of the child-sized Baker Park, they begin to ponder their connection to the Earth. They being to walk on a path that winds around a meadow, they can skip around a rocky pond, weave through a butterfly garden and run down a slight slope into a shady grove of evergreens.
Baker Park Overview
The Meadow: The west lawn is large (30x80) and level enough (1-4% grades) for unstructured play (running, frisbee, volleyball). Surrounding the lawn area on the north and east are 16-24" raised planting beds with stacked seat wall-height broken concrete walls. The planters contain trees, shrubs, perennials, groundcovers and seasonal flowers.
The Natural Area: The south edge of the park is a natural area. Nurse logs, wet area plants, shade tolerant plants, butterfly attracting plants are planted with an aim to maintain visibility into the park to prevent hiding areas. A low area water-collecting feature is included in the wild area. Small deciduous native trees attract wildlife and provide screening along the south park edge.
The Forest: All the trees existing before the part are left intact and preserve the character of the old nursery, and additional planting has enhanced the forest.
The Totem
Standing tall in the west end of the park is the Raven Bear Frog Totem Pole, carved by Haida Tribe Frog Clan member Fred Lauthin the summer of 1999.
Tree frogs once lived on Crown Hill; children wonder why they are missing now. One question we ask them is: What are the conditions needed to restore their habitat?
Besides science, the totem has also offered a chance to learn about art. Thechildren's art of the totem teaches creativity, inspiration and a chance to see through their eyes.
Awards
Earth Hero Award 2002: Honors the children's environmental stewardship at Baker Park on Crown Hill. Signed by Ron Simms, King County Executive, May 2002. For more information regarding this program, visit the King County's Earth Legacy Initiative.
Certificate of Appreciation: Awarded by the Parks & Recreation Department for participating in Seattle's Millennium Project, Seattle Service AmeriCorp 2000 & Woods Legacy Project. Given May 28, 1999 by Paul Schell, Seattle City Mayor; Sue Donaldson, City Council President, Seattle Service AmeriCorp Co-chair 2000; and Ken Bounds, Parks and Recreation Superintendent.
