BUGS Summer Program is Back!

The BUGS summer program began with an awesome first day on June 27th and each and everyday since then has been just as exciting. BUGS students having been doing many exciting activities throughout their days at camp. Students have had the wonderful opportunity to learn aerial dancing with help from instructor Kelly Jo Stull. The children have had so much fun while learning this exciting form of dance and have spent all their time laughing and smiling while doing it. As you can see below they have become very good at aerial dancing!

Even teacher Mr. Algernon gave the aerial dancing a go!

In addition to aerial dancing students have also been working on art projects. The past couple weeks the students worked diligently on their new project! BUGS students made personally decorated pillows for a family member of their choice. There was a long process to complete in order to reach the finished product. The process included planing your design out on paper with pencil, then retracing the design on the fabric with fabric markers. The students then colored in their designs, glued on strips of ribbon and finally picked a piece of colored fabric to use as the back of their pillow.

Then came the more challegning part! Students learned the different parts of a sewing machine and how to use one so that they could sew their pieces of fabric together themselves! It was amazing how fast students were able to learn to use the sewing machine and how good they became at it! Finally, students had to stuff their pillows and hand sew the rest of the fabric together. It may have taken them a lot of steps to complete the project but they enjoyed the entire process and the finished products were definitely worth the work! All the pillows look great!!

BUGS summer students have also been working hard in the kitchen and garden to prepare food and drink for the local farmers market. BUGS Students participate in the Hamilton/ Lauraville Farmer's Market every Tuesday from 4-8 even throughout the summer months! BUGS kids bring wonderful products to the market including pickles, salad dressing, herb dips, iced tea, and many more so be sure to check it out!

The Return of BUGS on Stilts

BUGS students had another opportunity to learn and train on the stilts. This time they were going to have a stilt-walking parade for the Farmer's Market.

Ms. Annie and her fellow stilters from Nana Projects came out to help train the students about stilt-walking. Prior to Ms. Annie coming out, the students watched a dvd called the UP AND DANCING: THE MAGIC OF STILTING. This dvd was about the Mookie Jumbies in Trinidad where stilt walking is very popular.

All of the students were given an opportunity to walk on the stilts. Believe me when I say that there were plenty of stumbles, bumps and falls. And for that reason, the first thing that the students are taught is how to fall - crossing the arms like an "X" across the chest while bending at the knees.
There was one major addition this year with the stilting. We had our own stilts made. BUGS was able to work with Mr. Josh and have 10 pair of stilts made. This was helpful because it allowed for more students to participate in the stilt walking parade. The Middle School students were able to help in completing the finished stilts. They used foam knee pads that were placed on the knee brace of the stilt and then wrapped it in duct tape to provide cushion and support.

Farmers Market Update!

The greenhouse is overflowing with gorgeous healthy plants! This week we're tackling last minute transplanting and labeling to make sure everything is ready for the Farmers Market on Saturday. Can't wait to see you there!

...In The Garden

As the weather warms in Baltimore, BUGS students get their hands dirty outside in the garden these days, not just inside the greenhouse. We added compost to the beds, turned the soil, pulled out the arugula and spinach that had over-wintered, and began to plant!

And planted several rows of lettuce! (As well as beets, spinach, potatoes, cabbage, onions, kale and peas).

AFRICAN DANCE NIGHT!!!

On Friday, April 1st, Roland Park Elementary/Middle School held a free performance and African Dance Night. Our students went to see the performance and participate in the dance class. Willis Brandon, a former BUGS student, performed and took part in the dance class as well.

Our first stop, before arriving to RPEMS, was Five Guys in the Inner Harbor. The students had Cheese Burgers, Bacon Burgers and Bacon Cheese Burgers with fries. Man, did they devour those burgers and fries! All gone before they had to dance.
When we arrived at RPEMS, Ms. Williams, Ty'Jaih's mother, was there. She came to see the performance and watch the kids work up a sweat in the dance class.

Once the performance was over, Liz Pelton, the director of the RPEMS Dance Club, announced for everyone to participate in the African Dance Class. Diedre Dawkins Opare, along with her student, Sebastian, led the parents, teachers, friends, students and toddlers in a warm-up and high-energy dance class.
The BUGS Students tried everything! They jumped! They kicked! They swung their arms! They moved their torsos forward and back! They stomped their feet! Laugh! They finished it one time through and ran back to the line to try it all again! They were so excited and frenetic!

There were drummers keeping the crowd fill with music and energy! And the BUGS students had more than enough energy! It was high-impact and never wane!

And not to be outdone, they wanted me, Mr. Al, to try many of the moments! And I DID!! They were surprised that I could do them all very well!! Nonetheless, the trip was all about them and having a great time doing something they wouldn't get a chance to do on a regular basis! That's what BUGS is all about!!
After all of that dancing and exhaustion, we all took a quick ride down 83 South to take them all home. It was a great way to end the week!!

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BUGS STILTERS: THE SEQUEL IN PICTURES

The girls getting their turn on the stilts!

STRANDED BUGS

It was suppose to be a trip to the Irvine Nature Center. Well, the vehicle, we were riding in, had other plans. While we were about 10 minutes away from our destination, the vehicle began to smoke. Luckily, we were on Owings Mills Boulevard and were able to pull over into the nearest strip mall.

Once, we got the students off the vehicle. I took them over to Buffalo Wild Wings to use the bathroom. We decided to stay at Buffalo Wild Wings and have french fries while waiting for Ms. Jane to come and pick us up.

They enjoyed themselves! Adventures never cease to end with the BUGS Program!!

**The smoking of the vehicle came from an unexpected busted hose!! We were safe!!

Ice Skating!!

 We recently went ice skating at the Mt.Pleasant Ice Skating rink. It was super fun, and with a bit of falling everyone still did a great job!

Farmer's Market Is Upon Us!

Seed Balls!!!

The younger girls of BUGS learned how to become guerilla gardeners last week. With a combination of clay, compost, seeds (we used a wildflower seed mix), and water, the girls whipped up a batch of simple, natural seed balls. Once dry, they can be dispersed into empty lots, bare patches of soil, or unused planter boxes to beautify their neighborhoods. We will most likely have some for sale at our annual BUGS Farmers Market (May 7th) as well!

This is the recipe we used:

http://heavypetal.ca/archives/2007/03/how-to-make-seedballs/