First get-together: Saturday August 13, 9am - Noon
As we get ready for a new school year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce (for families new to Mills) or re-introduce (for "experienced" families) the Mills Dirt Club. Here is a handy FAQ to help take care of that:
What the heck is the Mills Dirt Club?
That's the name the PTA Landscaping Committee has given itself.
What does the Dirt Club do?
If it's outside and on school grounds, the Dirt Club has probably had a hand in it. All we can depend on from AISD is to get the grass mowed every month or so; everything else you see done around campus is probably part of Dirt Club activities. (Although we did receive some improvements behind the school over the summer as part of the recent bond package)
Some of the things we do include weeding, trimming brush and trees, painting and maintenance, building sheds, adding retaining walls, fixing drainage issues, repairing murals, and generally enhancing the outdoors for the kids.
When does the Dirt Club meet?
We set up dates and times we think are convenient for as many people as possible. We aim for one weekend meeting a month and will try and do some weekday evenings as well. We'll finalize some dates and will publish them on Facebook and in the Mills Messenger as soon as we have them. We usually schedule 3 hour windows on weekends, and 1-2 hour windows on weeknights.
Do I need to be there for the entire session?
No! We know everyone has lots of things going on, so come by for any time that you can. We can put you to work for 10 minutes, or 10 hours...whatever you prefer!
What kind of work can I expect?
See above for details on what we do, but we try to have a variety of activities for people to choose from. It can be labor intensive (picking up rocks is the worst IMHO) to much less so (touching up paint or trimming some bushes). We'll tailor anything to anyone's interest.
What is the age limit?
In general, you probably need to be old enough to walk, but beyond that we're not picky! We've noticed that when you give young ones a pair of grabbers (which we provide) they can go to town picking up trash for quite a while.
What is the biggest challenge for the Dirt Club?
Our biggest challenge is typically getting good, consistent attendance at our workdays. We completely understand that weekends are busy and will always have different conflicts for different families. But if you see a date/time that works for you, please come out and join the activities! Also, bring the kids...we've heard time and again from students about how much fun they had at the end of a workday. This is also a great way for middle and high schoolers to book some volunteer hours!
What do I need to bring?
We may request people bring any favorite yard tools when we post details of a workday, but in general we just ask that you bring your own water bottle and any work gloves you may have (we do have a reserve of adult and kid's work gloves you can borrow as well).
When is the next meeting?
We're planning to get together Saturday August 13 from 9-Noon. Our goal will be getting the campus ready for the kiddo's pending arrival. We'll be doing some trash cleanup, trimming some bushes that are a bit overgrown, putting up a mural banner, and looking for anything else that could use some TLC. We'll meet in the front parking lot and branch out from there.
Who do I ask if I have any further questions?
You can reach out to Wes Ward (wesward@hotmail.com) or Brad Bressler (bjbressler817@hotmail.com)... we're co-chairs of the landscaping committee.
