At the Rain Barrel Making Class at the Orion School today it was so inspiring to see various members of the community come together to participate and learn more about environmental stewardship through water conservation. Darryl Haddock from West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (aka WaWa)generously helped us organize this event as well as teach the class on Rain Barrels. Even though we are a private school, The Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Organization donated rain barrels for the Orion School to use and give to the community as part of the Rain Barrel Making Class. Darryl explained during the class that the barrels are food grade and were donated to Riverkeepers by Coca-Cola --- if you smelled the inside of them even they had a slightly sweet soda smell.
Some of our participants today were special education teachers in Gwinnett County who found out about the event through an amazing organization called Greening Forward. The teachers lead the Environmental Club at their elementary school. Their principal wisely gave them the afternoon off to come to the Orion School to learn about rain barrels as well as to take barrels back to their school. Their goal is to have the students in their classes paint and decorate the rain barrels. 
Darryl taught the Orion School parents, volunteers, and community visitors about watershed issues as well as the nuts and bolts of installing a rain barrel in their home. During his class, the staff and students at the OrionSchool spent their time priming multiple rain barrels so they would be ready to decorate and install. Some classes started decorating rain barrels that were previously primed. Ultimately all classes will decorate and contribute to a daisy chain of rain barrels that we will have in our Greenspace with Grace outdoor classroom. The Orion School students who have conditions impacting social and emotional development, including ADHD, Asperger’s and anxiety often have a particularly difficult time consistently staying on task when academic concepts are taught using a more traditional approach. One of the key ways to reach and teach our bright and quirky students is through experiential learning opportunities like the Rain Barrel event today.
The event was such a success that I am sure the OrionSchool will partner with WaWa and host another rain barrel making class in the near future. We still have more rain barrels to share. There is also a growing awareness outside the Orion School walls that we are committed to being an educational resource through partnerships in the community. For example the recent tree planting event with Trees Atlanta brought together multiple groups of people with the goal of greening our immediate neighborhood. Today’s event brought together a mixed group of folks with a goal to all learn together how to preserve water for current as well as future generations. 
It is only together that we will continue to impact the immediate world around us and by extension the world at large. Happy America Recycles Day!
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