Hi Friends! 

Ellie the Earth Protector here! I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.

It has been a difficult time, hasn't it? Some days I feel sad, or mad, or worried, or even scared. Do you ever feel this way? I miss my friends, and I miss you! But together, we can get through this. 

It's important to do all that we can to keep ourselves and others safe. Here are some things we can do:

• Wash your hands often.
  • Remember to wash your hands with lots of soap and warm water. Sing the "happy birthday" song two times before you stop washing! 
• Stay at home.
  • The best thing we can do right now is at stay home. While at home, think of fun activities you can try! Here are some ideas! 
• Wear a mask when you go outside.
  • If you have to leave the house, make sure to wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth. It may feel silly at first, but it will help you! Just look at me with my mask! When you're outside, count how many other masks you can find! 
• Stay connected to family and friends.
  • It's important to keep in touch with family and friends. Even though we can't visit our friends on the playground, we can do other things like write them a letter or give them a call to say hello. It will keep us feeling connected to those around us! 

Do you need a friend? Let's be Pen Pals!
If you ever need a friend to talk to, email me at thesolutionaryschool@gmail.com
or
write to me at: 
Ellie the Earth Protector
93 Hilldale Road
Ashland, MA 01721

Let's help each other through this! 

Love,
Ellie the Earth Protector

P.S. Thank you to Sue Brennan for making my beautiful mask! 

Ellie hosted her first ever virtual “Meet & Greet” today with a great group of first graders!

They talked about how they can celebrate Earth Day every day, ways to be an Earth Protector, and even got time to ask Ellie questions. It was a lot of fun!
​
If you would like Ellie to join your class for a virtual hello, let us know by emailing thesolutionaryschool@gmail.com.

We love gardening at The Solutionary School. It allows us to connect with nature and our food system in an immediate and fun way. While we don't use chemicals because it harms people, animals, and the environment, we are always looking for natural ways to enhance our vegetable patch!

Recently, we learned you can use dried banana peels as fertilizer for your garden and tried it out! 

The process is super simple. Remember, don't over complicate this. To begin, take your banana peels and place them on a baking sheet. Put your oven on a low temp and leave the peels in the oven until they are nice and dry. 

Once cool to touch, it's time to grind them up. We used a mortar and pestle, but if you want to be fancy, you can also use a food processor or blender. If you need to get out quarantine frustration, maybe you'd prefer to place them in a bag and bash them with a rolling pin or crush them with your fingers! 

The last step is to sprinkle them over your soil and add a little water to create potassium-rich fertilizer! If you're not ready to sprinkle, then place them in a jar until ready to use!
 
We're excited to have found this zero-waste tip that will put our banana peels to good use and enhance our veggie garden! ​

We'd love to hear your gardening tips! 

One activity featured in our Earth Protector Guide is for children to come up with animal friendly alternatives to our most common phrases.

​Here's a fun graphic we created to spark ideas!