All, It was very good to hear the details of each activity station for CanU Grow. Now that those have been designed, we are at the stage to plan the deployment.
I have attached some ideas for how the Soil Science module will unfold and ask for your input, especially if you have any concerns.
There is a schedule outlining the overall timeline of events on each evening. We need to consider the set up and take down of each station on each day because the space will be needed for other uses in between sessions. I have tried to build that into the schedule. Mitch, can you let me know about how much lead time you require to get set up? I will need to confirm with Tim that we can get into the shed by 3:00 for Mitch's station to get set up. If more or less time is required, I need to let him know. Rob, I don't think it will be a problem for students to start assembling activity stations at 4:00 p.m. on Oct 8, 15 and 22 but I just want to check with you to be sure about it. Room 346 is booked for all 3 evenings starting at 4:00. I don't think that there is anything scheduled for Room 318 and 333 at that time.
There is also a list of activity station workers for the three evenings. This was compiled at Monday's meeting and there are a few gaps. Megan and Abolfazl, can you confirm your availability at the Soil Ecology station for the three evenings and for set up and take down? Magda and Gustavo, you have helped Mitch in the past. I realize that corn harvest may interfere with your availability for CanU Grow. Should we try to identify some backup workers to assist Mitch? Amberlee, can you confirm that there will be 2 student chaperones on each evening? We want to divide the students into 3 groups, so we will need at least 1 more chaperone, if that is the case.
I also have a rotation designed to accommodate Mitch's request that the students first go to the Nutrients in Soil activity before they come to his station. The rotation will facilitate that flow and allow each activity station about 20 minutes to "reset" between groups. Note, that all of the students will start in Room 318, which may help to get everyone started by having them in one place at the beginning.
Please note, on October 8, we want ALL the grad students to come to Room 318 at 5:00 p.m, not just the workers at the activity stations. That night is designed to be a practice run, so the the activity station grad students will have a chance to get set up. Then we need at least a couple of groups of other grad students to go around the circuit and test out the activities at each station. Mitch, you have done this many times before, so let me know if you rather skip the practice and the work to set up on October 8. Based on the experience from Oct 8, we may want to make some adjustments prior to the Grade 8 students coming on Oct 15 and 22.
Finally, I would ask each of the activity group coordinators to forward me the 1-page description of the workstations provided on Monday. I have Timi's write-up. They will be kept together in an archive for future CanU academies.
Thanks to all who have spent time and energy to pull the activities together. It is very impressive and I am excited about seeing it go ahead.
Let me know if you think of anything else.
Paul