Garden classroom keeps growing

Retiring teacher says he plans to see his pet project through

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John Youssef, 12, sprinkled a scoop of pearlite over a raised bed behind the Wheeler Avenue School on June 9 — his birthday.

“It improves drainage and aeration,” he said. “That means it helps the plants to gain more air and more water.”

Youssef is one of several others of Guy Jacob’s former students who have opted to join the Wheeler Avenue Garden Club — which celebrated its one-year anniversary this spring.

“Isn’t that nice that he spends time in the dirt on his birthday?” Jacob joked with the other students.

Jacob dashed back and forth across the garden area, helping students with different tasks simultaneously, occasionally shouting questions like, “What are the three purposes of mulch?” which they answered enthusiastically.

Jacob joined the school’s staff in 1987. He began creating a space for outdoor learning there last year by inviting his students to help him garden after school. In the last year, he’s overseen the building of two raised beds planted with milkweed, planted arborvitae trees along the nearby fence, and turned a section of weeds next to the building into an additional planter.

“Developing literacy in the natural sciences has always been an area of focus for me,” Jacob said. “I teach an annual unit on salt marsh ecology that includes a trip to the Marine Nature Study Area in Oceanside.”

His vision for the space would make it accessible to the entire school, including art students making ceramic footstones and other teachers using the garden for instruction. Jacob took a yearlong ecology course through the Greentree Foundation a few years ago, which gave him the idea to create a garden that would function as an outdoor classroom.

 Though Jacob said the project is several years from being done, he will retire on June 23. He wants to “pursue other interests” that include hiking, sailing, scuba diving, traveling and writing, but he said he fully intends to see the project through to completion.

“I’m doing it for the school,” he said. “I promised the Board of Education in my retirement letter that I will finish what I started.”

Superintendent Constance Evelyn called the outdoor classroom a “wonderful addition” to the school.

“I have visited the garden and witnessed the excitement as students speak about the plants they are growing, and how it relates to the curriculum and practicing solutions to real world issues,” Evelyn said.

Some of Jacob’s plans for the garden will have to wait until after a new cafeteria is built, but recently installed sprinklers will lighten the Garden Club’s summer workload.

“Because of our support for the garden, we expedited the installation of a sprinkler system, and are running into water pressure issues [we need to address to] successfully complete the work,” Evelyn said. “The installation process requires some problem solving, and we continue to be encouraged that the work will be completed in a timely manner.” Evelyn also mentioned that the school’s water supply system is 96 years old, and is due to be upgraded with the school’s bond work.

Students of the Garden Club said they enjoyed checking in on the garden last summer. Brothers Julian and Evan Franco “take it very seriously,” according to their mother, Patty.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “Being outside, you get a whole different perspective on learning and so forth.”

Students also learn about the wildlife the garden attracts, like the Monarch butterfly, whose numbers are declining. Taking a break from planting, Jacob pointed out a cluster of tiny bugs to the students under a strand of milkweed.

“These are milkweed bugs,” Jacob said, positioning a magnifying glass in front of the plant. “They’re beautiful black and orange bugs. In a couple of weeks they’ll grow and we’ll be able to see them.”

Most of the club has been funded through donations, fundraising and Jacob’s own purchases. He plans to continue to add arborvitae trees, build more raised beds to host plants that have practical functions and incorporate tables into the design of the courtyard.

Valley Stream Lions Club President Janet Mahabir said that a substantial donation was secured from the group’s spring fundraiser to help with the costs of Jacob’s future plans. She didn’t disclose the figure, but said the Garden Club was in line with the two primary areas of focus of her organization’s 2017 centennial celebration: Engaging the youth and environmental protection.

“We want to make sure the community knows we are supporting this project,” Mahabir said. “It was something that I thought could emulate what we do, and what we’re about.”