North Street Elementary uses garden to foster community outreach

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North Street Elementary uses garden to foster community outreach
Photo by/Cindy Zomar
Students Kal-El Parmanand and Anthony Colaizzi enjoy finding insects in the garden, another teaching opportunity.

By Cindy Zomar, Education Coordinator

GRAFTON –  Principal Steve Wilshire has been at the North Street Elementary School for about six years and enjoys chatting about the evolution of a garden transformation at the school. 

“I have always believed that kids need to get outside and breathe the fresh air, even in the winter,” he proclaimed in a recent interview.

In line with that ideology, a grassy area near the front of the school became a pet project and has grown into an outdoor classroom with a myriad of uses. 

The North Grafton Parent-Teacher Group and the Grafton Land Trust helped install raised garden beds. Lowe’s and Home Depot donated crushed stone and rocks to help keep the weeds down. 

These days, during the school year, classes can be seen sitting quietly outside reading, while at other times the area is a hubbub of science experiment activity.

To thwart the rabbits

Vegetables and flowering perennials attract pollinators, butterflies and, apparently, rabbits, which seem to consider the garden their personal feeding ground. 

As the garden grew, an existing chicken wire fence was not deterring the rodents, so the son of one of the cafeteria workers stepped up to help. 

 “Melvin He decided to make installing a new fence his Eagle Scout project,” Wiltshire explained. “Another parent was renovating at home and donated a large section of his old fence.” He, who was announced as the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School valedictorian earlier this year, cut the fence to the right lengths and prepared to install it. But the project was delayed because of COVID-19. 

“We got special permission for him to put it in last summer, and he and his fellow scouts did a professional job,” Wiltshire said.

Their garden safe from rabbits, John Bassett from the maintenance staff built a roof above the outdoor classroom’s chalkboard teaching station, inadvertently allowing students to get to observe a bird building a nest and raising its young in the eaves. 

A collection of tree stumps provides seating, and also yields a treasure-trove of insects to watch when turned upside down.  

Girl Scouts lend a hand

In addition to He’s Boy Scout contributions, Girl Scout troops 64822 and 3026 have, over the years, raked and spread mulch at the garden. 

This summer, meanwhile, Troop 65070 has pledged to keep the parcel weeded and watered according to Wiltshire.

This has further created space for Jenni Peters, a physical education teacher at the school, to use her own gardening skills to host an after-school gardening enrichment club that meets in the garden weekly during the school year.

Across the board, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, Wiltshire sees great value in the garden.

“It’s a great place for a mask break, to dig up worms, and conduct observations and experiments,” he said. “There are plenty of opportunities to engage with the community as well.”

Fostering the community connection

That community connection has flourished as last year the fall yield included pumpkins, butternut squash, and swan gourds, which were made into birdhouses that currently adorn the fence. 

“This garden showcases the community connection that supports learning here in Grafton,” Wiltshire said.

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