Seeds for learning being planted

Where there was once weeds, boxes and algae now stands an indoor greenhouse, a dozen benches and an outdoor pond in the outside courtyard of Woodmere Middle School that will serve as an educational outpost for a variety of learning experiences.
“This is an organic tool that will change and be maintained,” said Hewlett-Woodmere School District Science Department Chairman Dr. Brian Terry at Monday’s ribbon cutting for the outdoor environmental center. “This supports out of the classroom thinking.”
From students conducting research for projects that range from plant propagation to hydroponics, presently to potential projects that could include statistics and social studies, faculty members view the area as a place for diverse topics to intermingle. “What ever teachers and students decide to create,” said Dr. Ken Mossy, a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at the middle school. “All grades could have integrated and interdisciplinary learning.”
The idea for the site germinated about six years, when Superintendent Dr. Joyce Bisso and some other faculty members visited the Fieldston School, and saw what was being done at its Riverdale campus. “I can only imagine the wonderful experiences students will have here,” said Bisso, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
Students are already working on projects that highlight seed to table vegetable production, creating more plants out of existing ones and using water filtration systems to keep water clean and fish alive.
Mother nature showed that there is still more to learn as gusty winds knocked down a couple of displays and blew papers around during grand opening ceremony. But just as house could be a work in progress, so is the environmental center. “I first saw weeds, boxes and algae, but I also saw possibilities,” Mossy said. “Like my wife said when looking for a new house, ‘you have to look past the dirty carpet.’”