MY PLACE CHILD CARE AND SCHOOL AGE CENTER RECOGNIZED AS WILD SCHOOL SITE

COLUMBUS, OH – My Place Child Care and School Age Center in Newark will be dedicated as a WILD School Site by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife on Thursday, September 16th.

The WILD School Site program was established by the ODNR Division of Wildlife in 1994 to encourage schools to take action in order to improve their school yard habitat for wildlife while using the site to learn lessons in the many subjects of their curriculum. Since then, 107 school sites statewide have been certified, with My Place Child Care and School Age Center becoming the 108th and the 4th in Licking County.

The students and teachers at My Place have created a flower and vegetable garden on the grounds which the students plant, tend, water, and harvest.  Bird feeders, a bird bath, a perch line, a salt block, and flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds have also been added.  Students spend time walking the grounds while making observations at each of the stations they have helped put together.

All of the projects at the site have served as a basis for various classroom lessons, a main component of the WILD School Sites program.   

The garden at My Place provides the center with green space and allows the kids to learn about nature without the high costs of field trips.  A WILD School Site dedication ceremony will serve as recognition for the teachers’ and students’ hard work.

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