Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race. ~ H.G. Wells
Rod Bautista, master frame-builder and owner of Perennial Bikes in Eugene, Oregon is working with Kennedy High School to establish a bicycle frame-building program that will help students learn the art and science of design and fabrication…and the zen practice of patience!
Rod Bautista teaching by example
Principal Tom Horn practicing and preparing for a future class
Students and staff at Kennedy find inspiration in people like Rod Bautista of Perennial Bikes and Sean Walling of soulcraft Bikes (video below). They are part of growing movement, a renaissance of sorts, that values true crafstmanship over mass production.
“Filmmaker Michael John Evans sets out to visually portray “the zone” which one enters when their craft is honed.
Sean Walling, owner of Soulcraft, builds top notch custom steel bicycle frames. This short film documents Sean’s fabrication methods: a well choreographed dance of experience and muscle memory producing a seemingly effortless ode to process. From Steel: invites the viewer into Sean’s machine shop for an up close and personal look at the work that results in yet another awesome Soulcraft.”
The Healing Harvest / Kennedy School of Sustainability plant sale will be held on May 5th from 10am – 4pm. The public is invited to come down to see our garden and greenhouse facilities and buy plants and organic veggie starts grown and tended by our students as part of their therapeutic horticulture program. All proceeds will go directly to benefit the horticultural programs of Healing Harvest at Kennedy, and other agencies served by our program. Thanks and see you there!
Kennedy Conservation Corps (KCC) students, under the guidance of Director Matt Hall, volunteered to undertake a large scale restoration project in the upper Brice Creek Wilderness area. In partnership with the Forest Service, the KCC cleared stream banks of flood debris to encourage fish passage, built bridges for hikers, and strove to improve overall aquatic habitat and water quality conditions.
One of the unique characteristics of Kennedy is the way students learn through real-world experiences. These experiences empower students to make a positive impact within their respective communities. The award-winning Kennedy Conservation Corps engages students in the workings of regional and national conservation organizations. With the help of teachers Matt Hall and Don Kaiser, Kennedy students are initiating, planning, and participating in real-life tasks of interest. Kennedy is currently engaging in a number of fee-for-service projects with the U.S. Forest Service, Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council, and private landowners. Not only are students acquiring a diverse set of values and skills, they are also working on projects that benefit the surrounding community. The cooperation and teamwork gained from these experiences are essential for the students to foster positive problem-solving and creativity.
A beekeeping primer: urban or backyard beekeeping
Urban beekeeping is an attempt to revert to a less industrialized way of obtaining honey by utilizing small-scale colonies that pollinate urban gardens. Urban apiculture has undergone a renaissance in the 2000s. Paris, Berlin, London, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., are among beekeeping cities. Until 2010, beekeeping was banned in New York City and punishable with a $2,000 fine. Urban beekeeping is commonly practiced in areas that have a pesticide ban. This includes Paris, as well as 156 municipalities in Canada and 3 of 10 Canadian provinces. Beekeeping was illegal in Vancouver until 2003, for example, but by 2010 there were bees on the roof of Vancouver City Hall.
