In the Beginning…..

Posted on October 25, 2011 by admin

This is the ongoing story of our Discovery Garden- a group of volunteers putting in a living “classroom” where once only sad grass wilted. We hope this blog will help inform our school community as well as the rest of you out in cyber land who think this may be something you may want to try. We will update regularly with our progress and hopefully someday soon with beautiful images of kids exploring nature, science and math.

Article source: http://degolyerdiscoverygarden.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-beginning.html

Posted in Discovery Garden | Tagged , |

The Design

Posted on October 25, 2011 by admin


 from Donna Marquet:
I get tongue tied when I start to describe this garden. There are so many elements to talk about… So I will just start with the beginning. I walked around with a list of elements I found via different websites, outing with my kids and just random thoughts in aisle seven of the grocery store. Without censorship I just keep adding to the list until we got back to school and then the list was put out in front of the committee- What things did they like, what other ideas did they want to add… And while the list was getting fine tuned I sat several times in the space we were about to convert discovering how the classes flow past, what the sun was doing during the school day as well as who’s classroom windows overlook the space, taking measurements and what the space felt like. To me if felt like an afterthought, abandoned but it has the potential to be a focused space (shielding on three sides by the school) where a learning environment has real potential- it feels safe and the scale is perfect- about 80’ x 50’. 

Article source: http://degolyerdiscoverygarden.blogspot.com/2011/10/design.html

Posted in Discovery Garden | Tagged , |

DeGolyer Dads Club Calendar

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Scott

DeGolyer Dads Club is maintaining a public calendar for student and Dad and PTA events.  You can subscribe to the calendar on your home computer, work computer or mobile device.  You can integrate the calendar with your choice of device or continue to visit the website to make sure you do not miss important events.

How to subscribe to the DeGolyer Calendar:

  1. If you want to view the calendar on-line you can go to the Dad’s Club Public  Calendar here or just view the widget on the website to the right.
  2. If you use Outlook or Apple’s calendaring applications or a smart phone (iPhone, Android, etc.) you can subscribe to the calendar and import all events and updates automatically. Go to this link and copy the long url (or copy from (4)).  You will then need to email this to yourself and then click on the link from your email account.  The link doesn’t work via the browser so you do in fact need it inside your email.
  3. If you need help integrating this calendar into your device then this help article is a good place to start.
  4. https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/g74l2dm7l2v5le0k79s8k57aak%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  5. Want to be “Old School”?  Here is a paper calendar that you can download.

 

Posted in Events |

Meet the Teacher Night

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Scott

Meet the Teacher Night is Thursday, August 18 from 5:30 – 7:30. There will be a new family orientation meeting, pizza dinner, information booths, a uniform swap and more. Come kick off the school year right and join us for a fun and informative night.

During the Meet the Teacher Night there will be a uniform swap. You can swap your outgrown uniforms for ones that fit for the new school year! If you have gently used uniforms to swap please contact Lisa Smith, the sooner the better. Lisa will take your returned clothes and get you some swapping Dolphin Vouchers. If you have uniforms to swap you have first dibs, please come to the swap table between 5:15 and 6:00. After 6:00 anyone is welcome to come help themselves to a uniform for the new school year.

If you’d like to help with Meet the Teacher night contact LeShea Geisler or Mary Wilonsky.

Posted in Events |

“The New Garden is so Cool!”

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Scott

A graduating fifth grader screamed “The new garden is so cool,” when she laid eyes on the new landscaping at the school. Next time you drop your kids off or walk into the school be sure and notice some of the work the Dads Club is producing.

A huge thanks to DeGolyer Dad, Van Moushegian of Countryside Landscapes, for donating his time and labor to design and install three brand new flower beds at the front entrance. Loving our school donations covered the cost of flowers, plants and supplies for the landscaping.

All the plants are heat tolerant and to make sure that they survive our brutal Texas weather. There is a dedicated group of parent volunteers that will water the landscape over the summer months to supplement rainfall.

Posted in Projects |

Courtyard Gets a Facelift

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Scott

Our huge fundraising success enabled The Dads Club to begin new projects and one of the first on the list is the courtyard. The Dads Club recently updated the school courtyard and provided some new seating for the kids. The courtyard is a kid favorite and time spent here is an important part of the DeGolyer experience.

Inside the courtyard the rocks and gravel that come home in shoes were replaced with a new deck. The deck and bench are built from high-quality pressure treated pine. This type of lumber is more expensive but lasts years longer since it is exposed to the elements. The entire deck area and existing fixtures in the courtyard will receive fresh stain prior to school starting to give everything a uniform look and feel.

Todd Smith, Brady Osbourne and Joseph Pedroncelli spent approximately 20 blazing hot hours over 3 days to complete the work. Next time you see them, give them a high five and thank them for their labor.

Here are some before and after pictures of the work.

Before:

After:

Posted in Projects |

DeGolyer Awarded Lowe’s Educational Grant

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Scott

Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $4,000 Toolbox for Education grant to DeGolyer for the construction of a gazebo on the front lawn of the school. The new gazebo will be used for reading initiatives, class gatherings and will be dedicated to the retiring teachers from the 2010-2011 school year.

DeGolyer is one of more than 480 schools or parent organizations to be awarded a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant for parent-initiated school improvement projects benefiting K-12 public education across the United States during the 2010-2011 school year.

Be sure and visit Lowe’s #0515 North Dallas to say thanks.

 

Posted in Fund Raising, Grants, Projects |

2011 Fundraising Effort a Huge Success

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Scott

The Dads Club changed the format of the fundraising event and our constituents and parents answered.  The Dads Club raised just over $39,000 for the school.

Everyone is watching their wallets these days and where every dollar gets spent but we’ll all reached deep to help our kids thrive in our beloved school.

A huge thanks goes out all parents, Dads Club, and PTA members as everyone was involved and helped pull off a great event where fund was had by all.

 

Posted in Auction, Fund Raising |

Enter to Win a Cruise

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Scott

Do you want to enjoy a cruise for $10?  Seriously! Ten dollars buys you a chance to win a cruise for two.  DeGolyer Dads Club is hosting its annual fund raising event on April 30 and is raffling off a cruise, sports tickets, hotel stays and gift certificates to your favorite local hot spots.

Proceeds from the function help fund educational programs and buy materials for our school and students.  Recent state funding cuts make private donations and funds even more important since districts and schools across our great state are losing some state subsidies.

ENTER TO WIN

Enter to win our grand raffle prize and know that you will be funding many programs to help our children.  In years past, Dads Club has purchased books, field trips and sponsored after school programs.  We ask for your support in order to continue this tradition.

Go to http://degolyer2011.eventbrite.com/ to purchase your raffle tickets.

Posted in Fund Raising |

Where Does Dads Club Money Go?

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Scott

Question:  Will you donate to my cause?

Answer:  Why?

This is the most common question and answer to your fund raising request.  People want to know why you are asking for money and where the money goes.  Until now, you didn’t really have a good answer so we did some research.

We are in full swing in our fund raising effort so we wanted everyone to know where the money goes and what type of projects and programs get funded with private money and donations.  Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the list and take note at how many items get funded via the Dads Club.

For an overview of past funded projects see below:

Posted in Fund Raising |