Thanks to Island Cooperative Preschool for helping put in new native plants at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial at Pritchard Park.
Youngsters (with a little help from parents, teachers and community volunteers) installed more than 150 sword ferns, salal, nootka roses, Oregon grape and salmonberry around the memorial site, and spread mulch over the newly planted beds.
Ellen Carleson, Island Cooperative Preschool teacher and director, said the school wants its children to know that even as youngsters, they can make important things happen for the environment.
“In teaching environmental education, we so often want to jump into problem-solving the crises of the world,” Carleson said. “What the studies have found is, with young children, you just have to have them fall in love with the earth and care about the earth. Once they are in love with the earth and care about it, down the road they can solve the problems.”
The work day completed a year of support for the Exclusion Memorial by the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation. New plants were funded by the Foundation through a grant from the City of Bainbridge Island’s Civic Improvement (LTAC) Fund.
The Parks & Trails Foundation and LTAC grant also funded a documentary film on the Exclusion Memorial’s acclaimed new interpretive art elements by Washington artists Anna Brones and Luc Ravel.
The film, by island filmmaker Katie Jennings, will debut this winter.
