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Contact Information
*First Name

Ilana

*Last Name

Malone

*Address

1610 N 41st St

*City

SEATTLE

*State

Washington

*Zip

98103

*Telephone

206-353-9427

*E-mail Address

ilmalone@seattleschools.org

Position Title

School Counselor intern

Organization Information
*Organization
Name

Hamilton Middle School

Fiscal Sponsor
*Address

1610 N 41st St

*City

SEATTLE

*State

Washington

*Zip

98103

Telephone

206-252-5810

Website Address http://hamiltonms.seattleschools.org/

*Please select the ----Supporting Effective Innovation in Education
value in this list
that best
describes your

organization.
*Mission
Statement and
History

From our website: Hamilton International Middle School is a

rigorous academic and collaborative learning community that
educates students to succeed and contribute in a diverse
world. We work hard to ensure a nurturing and stimulating
environment for our students as we prepare them to be both
academically and socially successful.
Hamilton International Middle School is located in Seattle's
Wallingford Neighborhood and serves more than 1,000
students from the surrounding area. In conjunction with our
school mission as an international school, we take pride in
ensuring high levels of academic achievement for all students,
providing students with a global perspective, and offering all
students a world language experience. Hamilton also takes
great pride is it's music program, and goes to great lengths to
ensure all students are heard, seen, and successful.

Organization Staf 0.00

Total
*What year was
09/01/1928
your organization
established?
*Why was your
organization
started?

Hamilton is a high performing middle school in the Wallingford

neighborhood of Seattle. it was established to provide superior
education and high school preparation for students in grades
6-8.

*What are some

of the major
challenges you
have faced since
the inception of
your
organization?

As with most public schools, Hamilton is often at the mercy of

budget cuts. Positions being cut (especially in the counseling
department) and overcrowding is always a challenge that the
public schools will face.

Project Information
*Project Title - If you are HIMS Nature Club
requesting for general
support, please list the
project as general

support.
*Requested Cash
Amount

$5,000.00

*Project Budget

$4,500.00

*Project Start Date

06/01/2015

*Project End Date

06/01/2017

*What is unique about

your approach?

More and more, research is illustrating the benefits of

being outside in nature on mental health and wellbeing. It is my desire to begin a nature club at Hamilton
to give students a way to learn about nature, get
inspired by nature, and ultimately be outside in nature
and experience those benefits for themselves. This
approach is unique because it doesn't fall into the
normal realm of classroom teaching or school
counseling, but gets kids actively involved in learning
about the world around them while experiencing
mental and physical benefits from being outside. As a
counselor, this is a unique way to provide something to
our students that may benefit their mental health, but
isn't the typical one-on-one counseling session.

*What is the purpose of

this project? In a few
sentences, state what
the project is designed
to accomplish.

This project has two main parts. The first part is to

establish a nature club at Hamilton. Part of the funds
requested would go into a fund so the nature club could
take field trips to different locations around the Seattle
area or bring in guest speakers- we are so lucky to live
in such a richly natural environment with wonderful
universities close by. The second part of this project is
establishing a school garden, which the nature club
would be in charge of maintaining. The rest of the
budget would be allocated to garden costs. Ultimately,
we want this project's biggest accomplishment to be
creating a space where the students can connect with
nature and find more benefit and pride in their school
experience.

*What is the project

designed to accomplish?
Please list specific goals
of the project?

The goals of this project are: establish a nature club,

create and maintain a school garden, go on field trips
as a club. On a more macro level, the biggest goal of
this project is to get our students out in nature more.
There are so many benefits on both big and small levels

and I feel very strongly that in today's age of

technology and screens we need to be doing more at
school to ensure that our students get to experience
the outdoors and reap those benefits.
*How do the proposed
activities bring about
positive change?

As previously mentioned, there are tremendous

benefits for kids and adults alike to spend more time
being outside. In his book The Last Child in the Woods,
Richard Louv speaks to an epidemic he calls 'Nature
Deficit Disorder.' This describes the human costs of
alienation from nature, such as the diminished use of
senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of
physical and emotional illnesses. Many of these
symptoms start with kids, as iPads and video games
reign supreme. Today, children in the United States
average just 30 minutes of outside time a week,
compared with 52 hours a week of electronic media
exposure (Greenleaf, Bryant, & Pollock 2013). This is
crazy! Not considering the benefits of being outside,
there are many health risks associated with spending
too much time indoors. Higher rates of obesity,
diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, ADD, and increased
incidences of depression and other mental health
disorders (Greenleaf, et al., 2013). Knowing all of this, I
believe that it's imperative that schools play a more
active role in making sure that our students get more
exposure to the outdoors. Research is showing that
time outdoors can reverse many of these issues that
being inside causes, and act as prevention as well.
Students who play outside have better focus in class,
and higher self-esteem and self-efficacy. Field trips out
into nature have a much bigger impact on the student
than simply watching a video in class. The research is
clear- nature is positive. Experiencing nature in any
way promotes health and happiness and well-being,
and it is my goal is increase those opportunities for our
students.

*How will this project or

program help sustain or
further your
organizations mission?

Part of Hamilton's mission is to prepare students for the

world ahead of them and help them to be academically
and socially successful. There has been a plethora of
research that postulates a positive correlation between
going outside and less ADHD symptoms, and
unstructured play during the school day has shown to

increase kids' self-esteem, promote positive learning,

and help with their focus in the classroom. Furthermore,
gardens have been shown to positively impact a child's
learning and behavior as well. Students not only
enjoyed the act of gardening, but they experienced
increased school pride, enhanced bonding, teamwork,
and better learning opportunities (Blair, 2009). All of
this research definitely supports Hamilton's mission,
and I believe that all schools should adopt more ways
for student's to experience being outside.
*Where will additional
Additional funding could potentially come from the PTA
funding come from not if they saw that the project was successful and wellonly to support the
used. Additionally, funds could also come directly from
project but to sustain it? the counseling budget if their was anything extra left
towards the end of the year. However, the requested
funds should be able to sustain the club for some time.
*How will success be
defined and how would
you quantify it? (For
example: If applying for
a backyard garden
program, how many
people will have access
to food.)

I believe that this project will be a success if we can

create a nature club that promotes a love for nature, if
the nature club is able to take field trips to see the
natural beauty all around us, and if we can create a
sustainable garden that is used by any and all people
at Hamilton. Additionally, I would love to see a change
in school climate because of the garden, but I wouldn't
deem the project unsuccessful if that happens. If even
just one student finds peace or happiness from this
experience, it will be a success in my eyes.

*What other
organizations do the
same or similiar work
and/or compliment your
work?

There are several other middle schools and K-8 schools

in the Seattle School District, and only 2 of them have
gardening opportunities for their students. I would love
to reach out to the other schools that have
implemented this to see how it's positively impacted
their school and their students, as well as get advice for
how to best begin this process.

*How did you hear about I found this grant opportunity via
the Clif Bar Family
www.getedfunding.com
Foundation grants
program?
*Have you received a
grant from the Clif Bar
Family Foundation?

No

Prior Funding from Clif

Bar Family Foundation
or Clif Bar - Details
*Project Financials

Financial Statement HIMS Counseling Dept 3-132015.pdf (336.96 K), uploaded by Ilana Malone
on 03/16/2015

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