The outside grounds at Andersonville Elementary are a lot more welcoming thanks to the help of garden-friendly volunteers and a generous donation.
As students walked into the halls of AES this fall, they were greeted by a blossoming garden, a project that started last year after the family of former kindergarten teacher Sue Cattin made a monetary donation to the school.
‘Her two big loves were kids and gardening,? Bruce Martin, principal, said.
After Cattin passed away, her husband and son wanted to make a donation to the school in her memory. While this was going on, school officials were trying to come up with a way to improve an outside corridor that was empty and needed attention. The idea to start a garden in Cattin’s memory seemed like a perfect fit.
‘It solved a number of problems,? Martin said.
Members of the AES staff met with Clarkston’s school board to propose the memorial garden. Staff members stressed to the school board that the garden wouldn’t be a project that would look good once and be done with the following year.
‘The idea is that this is a constantly growing and evolving space,? Martin said. ‘We wanted to use it for all subjects.?
Not only was the garden supposed to be a beautiful thing to look at, but it would serve as a place for students and teachers to work on projects and lessons. The board approved the idea and planning began. Martin selected Martha Wright, former PTO president at AES, to design the garden and oversee its creation.
‘She just happens to be a green thumb,? Martin said.
Pulling ideas from various sources, the garden quickly began to take shape.
‘This thing really started taking off. It really started to be a neat cooperative effort between the school folks and parents,? Martin said.
As ideas came about, the Cattin family decided to donate more money to the garden, bring their total donation to $9,500.
With word spreading about the garden, members of the school offered to help with installation, pick up necessary items for the garden or even make a monetary donation themselves.
‘It was nice to have a feeling of community spirit that it produced,? Wright said.
The garden was installed in two long days of work in the beginning of May, just before the end of school. Since the garden was only put together for a short period of time before students left for the summer, this fall marked an ‘official? debut for all to see.
‘We’ve just continued to add things as they become available,? Wright said.
The area features seven gardens: Asian, five senses, memorial, butterfly/hummingbird, woodland shade, ‘ABC? and a planting box.
All areas were designed to be low maintenance and in season when students were in school. Keeping the garden so easy to continue is something that Wright worked hard to create.
‘We’ve really made a commitment. This is something we’re really going to stick with,? Martin said of the garden’s future.
Not only was the garden meant to be a means to add visual appeal to school grounds, but to help teachers with various lesson plans.
‘As the process was evolving, we were careful and went to the teachers to get ideas,? Wright said.
Such collaboration helped Wright eliminate picnic tables that had small holes in the top after AES teachers pointed out that students? pencils could fall through the spaces.
The garden has received a great deal of positive comments from both students and parents.
‘The kids have been really excited to be out there,? Martin said.
As the year progresses so do improvement plans for the garden. Wright hopes to continually add new items to the area, such as an arbor, more furniture and additional accessories.
‘We tried to get as many visually interesting items out here as possible,? Wright said.
As students work on reflective writing outside or simply enjoy sitting underneath one of the trees, both Wright and Martin are extremely pleased with the garden’s outcome.
‘It did what a garden does- bring people together,? Wright said.