This weekend was amazing and I hope that yours was too! As many of you know, I write, speak, and research on the topic of identity, grief, and purpose. I have been writing books, designing community programs and online courses, and speaking at conferences for over ten years now. Something amazing happened this weekend and I hope that you’ll keep reading to find out what it was……..

Since she was born, I’d always imagine how I would explain to her what Mommy did in her line of work. Wondering if when she became of age would she ask me over and over, “Mommy, what is death, what is grief, and why do you care?” I asked God to teach me to teach her once she was of age how the cycle of life works and how we could use things around us including nature to explain the cycle of life.

Last summer, I began teaching rain barrel and composting classes within the  City of Atlanta and really enjoyed the process of seeing people get excited about how we could use nature to resolve refuse and excessive water overflow. I remember coming home and talking about the process with my daughters and husband and I would get an occasional nod of interest.

Fast forward……..

Talmer-Marie is an amazing student at Arnold Elementary School in Jonesboro, GA. She is actively involved in her school as a Girl Scout and a student within the STEAM (STEM) Science program. This program has been an amazing blessing to her this year as it was her first introduction into the public school system. Talmer-Marie excelled in this program while being exposed to Legos, robotics, coding, and other forms of art. Several months ago, we were informed that the program was soon coming to an end and the students needed to prepare a science project.

After sitting down with Talmer-Marie to peak her interests, she mentioned to me that she wanted to work with slimy worms. Researching sites like http://www.sciencebuddies.org and other sites, we begin to explore her options and she had previously done a recycling project on sorting and took an interest to composting. Putting the two together, we talked with Darcy, and begin to draft the plan.

It was particularly important that Talmer-Marie was able to understand and know full well what the topic that she chose was about as well as the ability to explain the topic. We drafted an outline and began to shop for the project contents. It was such a fun time watching her respond to slimy worms and making the food to put in the food scraps bin. Talmer-Marie is working on a video for you which explains her project named, “Do the “ROT” Thing ” and I can’t wait for her to share it with you. The project saught to understand how to compost food scraps using worms. It was such a hand-on and messy yet rewarding experience to watch and to see Talmer-Marie involve herself in!

The competition was this weekend and in short, Talmer-Marie came in 1st place for the First Graders within the STEAM program. It was such a wonderful accomplishment for her and to watch her accept her first award. I was so proud of her that she could see the benefit of working consistently on  goal. She is an exceptional young lady who is destined to change the world. I am so glad that she sees a need to assist her environment and connecting to nature to do so.

Stay tuned for more information on her project. Congratulations Talmer-Marie Ogandaga on your win and to all of the winners and participants within this awesome program!

Happy Composting!