GMREC: Community Council

Johnny Appleseed (Kindergarten)

In the fall, a Johnny Appleseed program for all kindergarten students in Union, Towns, Fannin and Clay Counties is offered at the GMRE Center. A team of 40 volunteers conducts a 3-stage rotation program during three days of operation.

The Johnny Appleseed objectives are to:

• explain how apples grow
• explain the importance of the apple industry to the North Georgia Mountains
• provide an opportunity for children to travel through an apple orchard and learn about Johnny Appleseed.

Birds Program (First grade)

"Birds" is a program for first graders, presented in the local schools and co-sponsored by our partner in business, Birdyard Seed Company. This program features three 20-minute rotating study sessions

• Hummingbirds
• Bird identification
• Making a bird feeder.

Cabbage Patch Project (3rd grade)

An early spring Giant Cabbage Contest specifically for 3rd graders uses plants donated by Bonnie Farms in Alabama. Committee members visit third grade classrooms to distribute plants and to present a mini-gardening lesson. Students receive one plant to grow at home and a handout illustrating plant care instructions. At the end of the project, students take a picture of themselves with their cabbage and return the picture plus entry form to Bonnie Farms to be eligible for a $1000 state prize.

All About Trees (4th grade)

This full day program allows students to rotate through seven 20-minute classes. The topics are

• Orientation to Georgia Forests
• Georgia Native Tree Identification
• Tree Parts
• Uses of the Forest
• Forest Ecology
• Chromatography
• Limiting Factors to Ecosystems

This field experience is unique in that it meets 10 of the Georgia Performances for Grade 4. As a special feature of the day, Paul Bunyan tells tales of his experiences as a lumberjack.

Environmental Day (Fifth Grade)

This field day provided fifth grade students hands-on learning with environmental issues and teaches ways to take better care of the environment. Students rotate through eight 20 minutes classes of:

• Aquatic food chains
• Fire prevention
• Forest management
• Leave no trace (while hiking/camping)
• Predator/prey relationships
• Recycling
• Water quality
• Watersheds

Arbor Day Program (High School)

The Arbor Day Program is an ongoing project of collecting and planting 90 species of Georgia native trees on the grounds of the GMRE Center. Grass was planted on a 3.5-acre plot of land cleared of pine beetle damaged pines to prepare the land to be a Successional Ecological Demonstration Forest. On Arbor Day 2005, students from Towns and Union County High Schools in conjunction with the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Blairsville Garden Club planted 150 trees (50 species).  Additional trees were planted on Arbor Day 2006.  This demonstration forest is used to educate children and adults on the value of trees and to serve as an area for tree identification as well as illustrate what happens to land after a natural or manmade disturbance.