Seeds for a Change
This is one of Hamilton’s spacious and empty courtyards that students are arguing should be open to student activity. Photo by Cora Kuhlenbeck
Why Hamilton Should Have a Garden
The courtyards: long abandoned. They are aging, the stones bleached in the sun, the paint on the benches chipping, and the grass and trees overgrown. The courtyards are unused and ignored, yearning to have students walk on their pathways, spend a pleasant afternoon there, have lunch, do homework, or just have a good time. The courtyards also are an ideal place for plant growth. With lots of sunlight and easily accessible water, a garden is a perfect way to revamp the courtyard.
The work itself would likely not be very difficult: turn the grassy and overgrown areas into suitable growing soil, set up rain buckets and gutters to collect rainwater for the garden, get compost bins and set them up so a rich supply of soil would be available. Plant seeds, which could be some vegetables, and some flowers. Nurture them and let them grow, and the rewards will be plenty: fresh produce during the fall and spring months, compost bins to reduce total waste from HHS, and a more beautiful view outside. Once the food is grown, it could go to a number of places such as the food pantry, to clubs during their meetings, or be sold. Victoria Graf, 2020, commented that she was looking forward to “better food, I love vegetables.”
Some students enjoy gardening. A gardening club could be founded to monitor the garden during the week in advisement as well as after school and on weekends. The community could play a big part in making the garden, as students could design and then build it. Perhaps an extra credit project for the ceramics kids; they could make small sculptures to decorate the garden. Woodside and Marcy Elementary have gardens, and they have been very successful according to some of the elementary students. Hamilton could learn something from the elementary schools and follow their example.
Club Action recently held a meeting discussing their plan for composting and creating a composting bin as well as increasing recycling and cracking down on keeping the actual trash limited to garbage bins. A collaboration with Club Action to use the compost to benefit the garden would further help our school in the plight to be more environmentally conscious.
Academics could also be incorporated into the garden, as students in Biology and Environmental Science courses could go out to the garden and observe the plants or do experiments. Lizzy Barnish, 2020, believes the gardens could be “an additional teaching tool for certain science units, food for the food pantry, and an overall beneficial addition to the building.” Hamilton science teacher Ms. Maxwell has her own opinion on what it could do for academics and others, stating, “I think it will add beauty, adds some educational aspects, and it provides for a green space that provides better health for everyone if it is utilized.”
Many students were excited about the prospect of a garden when interviewed, and most of the feedback was positive. A majority of the students interviewed were excited about the food’s potential and donating to the food pantry. Some were happy with the fact that it could be pretty and a nice addition to the school, while others thought it could be an academic benefit. Overall, students gave a variety of reasons as to why they would be eager to see a garden develop at Hamilton.
