Here is some of the great feedback KNCB has received from past program participants!
AC CORCORAN ELEMENTARY:
“This project truly impacted our whole school. All of the students were involved in a school wide cleanup, which helped them take responsibility for their campus and gave them an appreciation for keeping the Earth clean. The garden helped teach the students that they have to work hard to get what they plant. Most of these students had never used garden tools or planted any plants. They learned to sow, weed, and water a garden to make it grow. One 4th grade student, who was from Argentina and spoke no English, really took a hold on the garden! His teacher said he was reminded of helping his family back in Argentina and he would ask daily to go work in the garden. He works hard on it and has made new friends from teaching them how to use the garden.”
BURNS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:
“What a great program! It makes the students think twice about throwing trash on the ground after working to clean it up. Planting taught the kids a science lesson and they learned how to be good stewards of the environment.”
CAMERON TERRACE/OAK PARK:
“Great program and we are looking forward to it every year!”
CHARLESTON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS:
“The project was able to tie in with our biology courses that taught about the carbon cycle. As the curriculum illustrates the need to reduce atmospheric carbon, the students realized that planting plants like trees and flowers is the best way to improve the beauty of an urbanized area while reversing the carbon footprint and its impact. Making those connections while digging in the soil was more impactful than any lecture or video on the same content. I must say thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this project. Having students take the classroom outdoors to apply their learning is more meaningful than anything a textbook could offer. I am fortunate to have the KNCB project as an annual tradition in our biology classes.”
CHICORA ELEMENTARY:
“With our new school building this year, we have focused a lot of effort on teaching students to take pride in their school building and this program was very helpful in reinforcing it. The Clean Cities Sweep program was a wonderful way to encourage students to take ownership of their school. Since the trash pickup portion of the program took place, there has been noticeably less trash left on the playgrounds. Our students have very limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood they live in. For many of our students, their diets consist largely of fast food or processed foods that are available at convenience stores in the neighborhood. Starting a school garden where students can see how food is grown empowers them to get back in touch with where food comes from. It exposes them to fresh and healthy foods. It also provides an opportunity for conversations about the importance of including fresh foods in one’s diet daily. It makes students aware of the role they play in keeping their school and neighborhood clean. They also learn about growing food and the importance that each organism can play in an ecosystem from the people that plant the food to the insects that help pollinate it. Thank you so much for allowing Chicora Elementary to participate!”
CHILD & FAMILY DEVELOPMENT CENTER:
“Clean Cities Sweep is a wonderful program! It helps bring families and communities together. We look forward each year to work with this project to beautify and replenish the earth.”
COURTYARDS AT WESCOTT :
“The Courtyards at Wescott has been working with Keep North Charleston Beautiful for the last five years. The value of this program is twofold; it helps beautify neighborhoods, but more importantly, it helps bring the North Charleston community together to carry out these projects. Neighbors meet neighbors they normally wouldn’t see or interact with. The entire community gets to share and participate in something to make it look better. I can’t say and give enough praise and support to this fine and very dedicated group.”
DORCHESTER TERRACE:
“Clean Cities Sweep is a great program! It brings the community together for a group project to be proud of. We look forward each year to work with this awesome project that KNCB continues to bring to the city with such great sponsors and partners.”
DORCHESTER WAYLYN:
“We love the Clean Sweep in the Dorchester Waylyn. It is a great way to come together for a positive cause that we are all impacted by in a great way! It has inspired us to not just participate in the Clean Cities Sweep but to make it an ongoing effort!”
FIELD TRIP ATTENDEE:
“You will enjoy the interaction with children. They are encouraged to look, listen, smell, and touch! My children love looking for the butterflies and the flowers, love the story time, but most of all, they love getting do their own planting!”
FOREST HILLS 1:
“Forest Hills 1 has participated with Clean Cities Sweep for 10 or more years. This opportunity has provided us with money, resources, and educational programs to beautify our community, upgrade landscaping entrance renewal to our community and to bring neighbors together and encourage them to get motivated. Through this project we have planted palm trees, flowers, painted, and cleaned signs. A pleasant community appearance adds to home values, helps attract business investment, and just improves the neighborhood reputation.”
FORT DORCHESTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:
“The students enjoyed beautifying their school by cleaning up and planting new flowers. It gave them a feeling of team work and responsibility by working together to accomplish a goal. They further enjoyed learning the skills of planting flowers and tending to the maintenance of gardening.”
FORT DORCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL:
“This program allows for students, staff and community members who would normally not meet in any other environment or at the same location to interact. Through this interaction, these groups work together to accomplish goals which will positively impact them as well as others not associated with the project.”
GLOW HOMESCHOOL GROUP:
“We loved the butterfly garden field trip. We were welcomed into the garden by a nice lady in a butterfly costume. She told us all about butterflies and the plants they need. We had a butterfly story in the garden and then got to plant plants that will attract more butterflies. And we saw lots of butterflies! The volunteers were fantastic.”
GOODWIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:
“The Clean Cities Sweep program provided an opportunity for the majority of our students to participate in a community service type project. They felt very proud of the work that they did to make our school grounds look better!”
JERRY ZUCKER MIDDLE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE:
“This is our school’s letter of thanks and support to the Clean Cities Sweep. 2013 was the first year we participated and it truly was beneficial to us. We used the grant of $100 we received to buy supplies to aid in the fruit tree orchard we had planted on campus earlier in the year. Our orchard is growing better because of these supplies and the help from Clean Cities Sweep. Our students are learning the value of food production, self-sustainability, our environment, and many other important life lessons. Our school and community are beautified by this project and more oxygen is going into the air we all breathe. We hope to be able to participate again and that Clean Cities Sweep will be available as a resource for many years to come and grow in its scope and ability to help us and the many other schools who participate. Caring for and improving our environment is crucial to our well-being and survival. Programs like Cities Clean Sweep are vital to this effort.”
LIBERTY HILL:
“The Clean Cities Sweep program serves as an asset to the city’s beautification efforts. It also brings communities together for a common cause.”
LIBERTY HILL ACADEMY:
“Our classes are small and students rarely get the chance to interact with each other and work cooperatively. Clean Cities Sweep makes that experience possible for our students. We took our most challenging class outside to work with our nonverbal students in the autism class. Each student was paired with a student from the other class. The students were taught sign language to communicate with their partners. One student commented, “They’re not dumb, they’re different.” The challenging class quickly learned how bright and motivated our autism class is and were surprised at their abilities. Our challenging class was gentle and patient with students who were different from them. Gardening is the perfect way to bring people together.”
MOLINA HEALTHCARE OF SOUTH CAROLINA:
“Molina Healthcare of South Carolina is grateful for the opportunity to join forces with organizations like Keep North Charleston Beautiful in a collaborative effort to reach and give back to people in need. Keep North Charleston Beautiful shares Molina’s mission of improving the well-being of individuals in the communities in which we live.”
MURRAY HILL:
“The Clean Cities Sweep program was very helpful to us. Having people coming together to clean the park and help the community was a positive experience.”
NANCY GILBERT:
“I have been a volunteer with Keep North Charleston Beautiful for several years, and I am proud to tell people about all of our wonderful programs! I love when we have children from local preschools visit our butterfly garden and learn about the flowers, butterflies, and how to be good environmental stewards. I’m retired and volunteer for several organizations, but volunteering with KNCB is my favorite.”
NORTH CHARLESTON HIGH SCHOOL:
“This project is one of the highlights of the year for my students. They are extremely happy going to Lowe’s as a field trip, planting the flowers, and especially going outside on a daily basis to water. Watering the plants is part of their daily curriculum and is enjoyed by all. We learn about each plant as part of our science curriculum and create classroom projects and posters in tandem with the flower bed project.”
NORTH CHARLESTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH LEARNING CENTER:
“I love the children’s faces as they explore the gardens and learn. We love the field trips to the Park Circle Butterfly Garden and do it every year.”
NORTH EAST PARK CIRCLE:
“Our neighborhoods, communities, and city are much cleaner than when the annual Clean Cities Sweep program first began. Clean Cities Sweep helped to organize volunteers to work together and get more done in each neighborhood area. Contest initiatives created more incentives to compete and excel while realizing the results of the labor donated by those who live nearby resulting in a decrease of crime. Those who are criminals know that a clean neighborhood is one in which citizens are watchful and will report suspected wrongdoers. The program also helps those who cannot do for themselves by encouraging others to help them. Sponsors help with gift cards to fund the projects that many neighborhoods cannot afford. Meeting together and working to make the neighborhood cleaner and better gives us pride and makes us feel like we are a positive part of the solution.”
NORTHWOODS MIDDLE SCHOOL:
“The impact of Clean Cities Sweep is ongoing! For the first time, many of our students got to experience growing and observing food being grown. It was exciting for our students to pick fresh blueberries off of a bush and eat them. One highlight involved a student who was truly angry at life (due to several deaths in his family). He felt as though another student was bullying him and became very angry. Teachers and Administration intervened early on and allow the student to spend some time in the character room. He was able to pedal on a bicycle while reciting character words and then went to work on the Generosity Character Garden so he could be a part of creating life. This student walked away with no fights nor office referrals and discovered a positive outlet for all his built-up anger, frustration, and energy.”
OWENS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY:
“This program is brilliant! This project encouraged some of the students to go home and plant personal gardens, whether it was flower beds or fruit and vegetable gardens. Each child enjoyed being able to get dirty for a good cause and had a sense of pride about making their class flower box more beautiful than before. This program was a wonderful way for children to get in touch with nature. They learned about how plants grow and how they affect us in nature. They enjoyed being able to touch and smell the flowers as well as securing the plants in the dirt with their hands. We incorporate it into our lesson plans in order to teach the importance of keeping the city clean and beautiful, along with learning techniques and facts. This is an awesome opportunity!”
PALMETTO GARDENS:
“This program allows us to take on tasks that we normally would not be able to participate in without the contributions and supplies provided by the City and sponsors.”
PALMETTO SCHOLARS ACADEMY:
“This was one of the most well run events I have ever had the privilege of participating in. The level of experience on the part of the staff shows. Instructions are clearly communicated and staff is always available to answer questions. The Clean Cities Sweep program fosters pride in the school community by giving students ownership of their campus.”
PEPPERHILL CIVIC CLUB:
“Clean Cities Sweep projects are awesome. Our projects have stimulated citizen participation. For example, the Pepperhill school project improved community relations and the kids were excited to take care of the plant beds. Club members maintain our beds by weeding, mulching, edging, and cutting the grass as needed. This has resulted in more pride and enhanced quality of life making Pepperhill a more desirable place to live.”
ST. JOHN CATHOLIC SCHOOL:
“The school absolutely loved participating in this program. It encouraged students and staff to look beyond our grounds and see how we can make our area more beautiful. We are truly embracing the Clean Cities Sweep mentality and continue to embrace God’s beautiful creations.”
UNION HEIGHTS:
“Clean Sweep Cities is a wonderful program for communities in North Charleston. It allows residents to take pride in their community.”