CLAXTON FALL GROUNDS WORKDAY

THIS Saturday, October 19th from 9am to 12pm

We will need help moving railroad ties and large stones. We will also be dividing and transplanting perennials, spreading mulch and raking leaves. Bring friends if you can!

Bring your spades, pitchforks, hard rakes, large muscles, wheelbarrows, 

leftover 8”-10” black nursery pots, and garden knives.

Children are encouraged to help, but both playgrounds will be open, just in case ;)

Pizza lunch provided!

Thank you,

Claxton PTO Grounds Committee

Tricia Johnson, Kristin Cozza and Molly Peeples

Grounds Workdays -- Thank you!

Thank you to the wonder volunteers from the community and from Claxton who really out did themselves last week on Thursday's Day of Caring and again on Saturday.  Things look great!

Day of Caring -- September 6th & 8th!

The Claxton Diggers Grounds Committee is partnering with the United Way and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce to bring a Day of Caring to Claxton!

From 9:00am to 1:00pm on September 6th and again on September 8th, volunteers from our matched partner, the Chamber, will be in attendance to work at Claxton. We will be weeding and mulching the school grounds and constructing compost bins for the school.  We're also working on plans to have other community volunteers on hand.  Can you join us?

This will be a great opportunity to bring resources from the larger community to Claxton to see the wonderful things we have going on as we continue to make our school a greener, more beautiful place!

WEEDS!

Hey All You Claxton Parents –

It is a little over a week until school starts. I have been working on the landscape the past two weeks, but just can’t get to it all. Can you please donate 30 minutes of your time this week to go and pull weeds at the school? Bring a friend or a child to make the work go faster.

You can weed the front corner beds on Merriman/Hillside and Merriman/Annandale, the beds in the center front steps, the butterfly garden, or anywhere else you see that needs attention. Also, some deadheading needs to be done on the lavender and other plants.

Thank you so much for your help. I look forward to seeing you next week!

-- Mary Hiers Skelton

Claxton Diggers

Grounds Committee Chair

Mary Hiers Honored

Claxton parent Mary Hiers-Skelton will be featured as WLOS News 13's Person of the Week on Friday's 6:00 news.

 

Mary leads the Claxton Diggers, a group of volunteers who have been making great progress over the past several years improving our grounds and making the outdoor space at Claxton more appealing, more usable and more educational. Her hard work has resulted in an improved and expanded K-1 playground, the installation of gardens around the grounds, the repair and relocation of the Deborah Sizemore Sound Garden installation, and the beginnings of a natural noise barrier along the Merrimon Avenue side of the school. 

 

If you're not already familiar with all that Mary, the Claxton Diggers and our Grounds Committee are doing, check out the Grounds page to find out how you can get involved!

 

Congratulations Mary! 

 

Your work serves as a great example of what a dedicated volunteer can accomplish on behalf of our school and our students. We invite everyone to tune in as Mary is celebrated for her contributions to the Claxton community. The story will air at 6:00 on Friday on WLOS News 13.

Grounds Update!

Most of the plants that we had donated in the fall have been planted around the school and it really looks great. Thanks to a small group of hard working parents, Claxton’s landscape is shaping up!

The K-1 playground has had more exciting things happen. We now have a dry creek bed for drainage and a bridge for kids to play on. The dry creek bed held up well during the torrential rains last week! Thanks to Paul Willard for his hard work and artistic eye!

We are working on several grants for the large playground. It is going to require a lot of grading and drainage work before we can even get to the fun stuff. Hopefully we can start working on that this summer.

On Hillside and Merrimon Avenue, we are planting lots of plants, in hopes of creating a noise buffer from the roar of traffic. That way, we will be able to eventually have outdoor classrooms! We are just starting, but hopefully will be able to raise some funds to plant hollies and other plants in the upcoming years to enhance this sound barrier.

Now, we are just trying to keep weeds and grass at bay around the plants we have installed.

We need your help!  

We have dumped some mulch around the plants, and it needs to be spread out. We also have a bit more mulch near the front entrance that can be used. Can you spare 30 minutes to an hour and stop in anytime to help spread this mulch? There are also weeds to be pulled along the building and in the planting beds at the corners of Merrimon. 

Also, we'd love to plant some fern and hosta in the front raised beds at the Hillside/Merrimon corner. If you have any to share, we would love to have them!

The Asheville City School Board meets at Claxton on Monday, May 7. Won’t it be great for our grounds to welcome to them? Please lend a hand in the coming week to help with these projects to make sure everything looks great!

Mulch for K-1 Playground

We have a pile of mulch at the back gate for the K-1 playground. There is a wheelbarrow and a pitchfork on the K1 playground. It would be great if you could take an hour out of your week to go spread a couple of wheelbarrows of mulch.

Please try to get other Kindergarten and First Grade parents involved!

I would loved to have another work day this Friday, March 9th, when school is out of session. However, the weather forecast doesn’t look good. If it turns out to be a pretty afternoon on Friday, I will be there working.

Thanks to the following people who helped out last weekend on the grounds: David Davis and Sally, Kristin Cozza, Lockie and Zac Hunter, Graham and Pascale, and Ginger Frank. They worked really hard to try get Claxton grounds pretty for this spring.

There is still lots of work to be done, so look for more work day announcements.

Thanks!

Mary

Giving Thanks for Grounds Helpers!

Fall is in the air...and the plants are in the ground!  Well, many new plants that were donated to our school have been installed in recent weeks.  We'd like to thank the following businesses who so generously contributed plants to the school:

Jesse Israel & Sons Garden Center

B. B. Barns Garden Center

Reems Creek Garden Center

Southeastern Natives Nursery

Botanical Treasures

If you're planning on shopping for plants this fall or for the holiday season, please consider supporting these businesses that so generously support our school!  Let them know you're from Claxton, and please tell them "Thank You!"

Please also thank the Claxton parents and friends that have come out to do the hands-on work of getting the plants installed: Kristin Cozza, Molly Peeples, David Davidson, Bernie Griwatz, Eric Mueller, Mary Beth Kingston, Dorrie and George Sieburg, Lockie Hunter, Judy Wells, Andrew Godleski, Lee and Mary Skelton.

We really appreciate all of their hard work on such a cold and blustery workday! Hardy souls! Please give them a pat on the back (or a back rub!) if you see them.

And, if you've been at school, you've seen that we still have a number of plants to install that are placed around the grounds. If you find yourself with few extra minutes (maybe after drop off or before pickup), please feel free to bring a shovel and help out. There is a large pile of compost in front of the big metal box next to the main entrance to school. 

Fall Planting

Well, we had a very cold and wet workday on Saturday. A few hardy souls (Thank you very much!!) braved the weather, and we were able to plant a lot of plants. However, we still have a lot more plants to install! Plants are placed around the front and sides of the school to be planted. Piles of compost, to amend the soil, are located near the plants and a larger pile is next to the entrance to the school.

If you and a friend have a moment the next few weeks, please bring a shovel and come plant a few plants. Please call me if you have any questions. I will be around the campus this week and Kristin Cozza and I will be at the school this coming Saturday morning (November 5). Just keep in mind that your hard work now will pay off with a beautiful this school this spring!

Thank you for all of your hard work!

-- Mary

Claxton Grounds Day

October 29th 9am-1pm, In the Front Lot 
Parents and students,  we need your help! Come be a part of the greening of Claxton. Let’s make our school shine in our community. We'll be sprucing up the front of the school – planting, weeding, pruning, dividing perennials, deadheading. Some plants have been donated, but we are looking for more. Please bring shovels, rakes, blowers, gloves, wheelbarrow, tarp and a great love for the outdoors and our school! Things we need donated: 

• Dogwood trees –Cornus florida, 
• Native Azalea, 
• Rhododendron or Mountain Laurel, 
• Viburnum, 
• Oakleaf Hydrangea, 
• Deciduous Holly, 
• Hosta, 
• Fern, 
• Helleborus, 
• Shasta Daisy, 
• Black-eyed Susan

- Mary Hiers (Claxton Grounds Coordinator)