More Inspiration

These are pictures from Cedar Ridge Elementary in WISD. It was designed by Sandy Beck, who is a former Spring Valley teacher and a Master Gardener! (She is also a great piano teacher, summer swim instructor and pet sitter if you need any of these things!) Mrs. Beck came out and consulted with us in the very beginning of this process. We are very grateful to her! She was really sad that I was in her cedar Ridge Garden Classroom in the dead of winter when everything was brown, but it still looked great to me! Enjoy the views of Mrs Beck's Cedar Ridge Garden Classroom below!

Ms. Sandy has all sorts of critters in her Garden. She believes in making it fun for the kids and teaching them about the circle of life. We will have to stick with bugs and pretend critters at Spring Valley but what fun!

This hut is literally the "outdoor classroom" but like our own outdoor space, there is much, much more to it! It would be great to have a covered room like this in the Panther Patch some day!


The brightly painted "garden house" makes this space so inviting, even in the dead of winter.

Sandy also encouraged us to add a simple weather wall or station to outdoor space.

Winter plantings



These are just like the benches we bought for the Ampi-theater area at Sandy's suggestion. Cedar Ridge has used these for 3 years and they are like new!

I loved how she honored donors and filled up a plain brick wall with this wonderful "Tree of Life"

Next time you see Mrs Beck let her know how much we appreciate her inspiration and encouragement!