Recently, Pam and Tjitske of The Schoolyard Greeners joined us on the Start Accelerator track. De Startversneller even wrote a nice article about it. Nice to see our clients in the spotlight, they deserve it! Lizanne Jakobs and Renate Termaat of Brilliant Work are the Startversneller coaches guiding them and they do it with great pleasure. Pam and Tjitske have a unique company with a fantastic goal and are also true entrepreneurs who put their shoulders to the wheel.
Read the full article below
Green schoolyards make for happy children who perform better
Green schoolyards make children display more social behavior and perform better, say Tjitske Westra and Pam Post. The initiators of The Schoolyard Greeners support schools, bsos and daycare centers in greening their gray squares, making “huge gains. “A green schoolyard gives children the opportunity to learn from nature. Children enjoy going to school more and there is less bullying behavior,” say the founders. Scientific research has shown that natural elements positively affect children’s development and stimulate psychosocial, cognitive and motor development. “We strive for a generation of children and teenagers who grow up with only green squares,” they said. Oost NL supports the young entrepreneurs through The Start Accelerator.
Avoidance
I often see entrepreneurs, managers, or directors avoid clarity out of fear of confrontation. What if a client tells you your product is too expensive or your service is subpar? Or if your employee tells you they don’t work as hard because they never receive any appreciation? That’s uncomfortable. But it’s less painful than letting problems simmer.
Because if you don’t ask anything, you often end up with such low revenue that you have to close the business, employees who experience burnout, or who are angry because their requests are never answered. That might sound like doom-mongering or exaggeration, but I hear about these kinds of issues weekly. And we only have to look at the Dutch Tax Authorities and the culture there to see the painful consequences of an organization where people and the truth were handled in anything but a clear manner.
Natural learning moments
That a green square has only advantages is logical, according to Westra and Post. “As a child you can have a good time on a nature square, get some fresh air, really play and have fun. Back in the classroom, the children are much calmer and can concentrate better.” The ladies alternate and complement each other: “The beauty of nature is that it is very dynamic. Water, for example. While playing, children learn: if you push water, it pushes back. A leaf floats in water, so does a twig, but a small stone does not. These are learning moments that nature offers of its own accord. Play in a green square is more dynamic and creative, it encourages children to move.” The playground equipment is made from circular materials. An estimated 15% of schools nationwide want to green their squares. A green schoolyard can call itself green, by the way, when it contributes to biodiversity and contains natural elements such as trees, shrubs, tree elements, sand, water, flowers, ponds, grass, natural sheltered areas, vegetable gardens, amphitheater and animals.
Mix gray and green
Should all squares be turned into parks and forests if it were up to The Schoolyard Greeners? “Certainly not, you have to make a combination: Not quite gray and not quite green either. Children should also be able to ride around with carts.” As independent partners, they support schools in making choices that are financially feasible, and fit the school’s pedagogical vision. “The cost of construction is usually not the problem. Maintenance costs can be a stumbling block but we make sure they are not stuck with high costs.” There are grant opportunities for schools, but “that varies a lot from one municipality to another. Many municipalities are open to co-financing, Westra and Post know.
The greeners explain what it means for a square to fit the “pedagogical vision” of a school: “For example: At a Montessori school, teaching is organized so that the older children help the younger ones, and vice versa. The groups work interchangeably. You can see that in our square. We don’t create a specific kindergarten section. Students in grade 8 can play their own games in the same place where kindergarteners play.”
Putting out fewer fires
As a teacher, do you still have an overview on a square with paths, water and bushes? “A green schoolyard is quite exciting at first for teachers; you do indeed have less of an overview. But teachers tell us that they have to put out far fewer fires! There are fewer fights, there is less crying and they have to intervene much less often.
Initiators ‘pretty good mix’ together
The Arnhem mothers know each other through their children’s elementary school and decided to tackle the gray squares together. With Westra’s educational background and Post’s experience as a designer and psychologist, the ladies together form, in her own words, “a pretty good mix. Westra can quickly fathom a school and its learning system, and Post knows what developments children are going through.
Help lines through The Startup Accelerator
Through a cooking club friend, Westra came across The Startup Accelerator. “We were real starters, inexperienced. The coaches from De Starversneller gave us solicited and unsolicited advice, on how to run a business, which helped us a lot. With a coach’s support, we also created a marketing plan and got tips on social media and the website.” The great thing about The Startup Accelerator, the entrepreneurs say, is that you can choose your own coach: “You know yourself what you need help with. We each have a coach. Two helplines.” Oost NL awarded the coaching voucher to the company. “The contact with Oost NL was very personal. You think you might end up in an unwieldy organization but that is not the case at all. The lines of communication are short and the contact was very direct and personal. That was very nice, we had one contact person. And the advice is tailor-made, every entrepreneur is different.”
Source: The Startup Accelerator
