Date: April 20, 2009
Page, AZ – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area invites the public to attend the First Bloom planting and related activities on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22 at the Wahweap campground amphitheater. The Earth Day activities will begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue through 1:00 p.m.
Glen Canyon staff, Page Unified School District (PUSD) staff, and students from the Page Middle School native cultures and garden clubs will be planting several native species of plants in the area around the amphitheater. The event is the culmination of an eight month project called First Bloom.
The First Bloom Project began two years ago when the National Park Foundation received a large donation from Aramark to connect kids to nature through hands-on planting and garden projects inside national parks. Glen Canyon was one of five National Park Service (NPS) sites selected in September 2008 to participate in the project.
NPS Education Specialist Joan Mayer and her staff have been working with PUSD teachers and club leaders Pauline Mooring and Tasha Racawan to help students become more familiar with the outdoors and national parks by getting to know native plants, both inside the park and in their own community. During the last eight months students have been studying native plants and understanding their cultural uses. They have gone on several field trips with rangers and teachers, including an all day tour boat trip to Rainbow Bridge. Students utilized the Page High School greenhouse to grow some plants from seeds. Students kept journals and took photos to document their experiences.
In addition to the planting, environmentally related games and activities will take place. Speakers from the NPS, the National Park Foundation, and Aramark will be on hand to support the event and congratulate the students for their months of hard work.
