New garden a community effort

An idea that started out as a seed in the minds of a few Howell Road School teachers quickly grew into a large scale community project. The result — a new place for children to learn.

Last year, a group of Howell Road teachers came up with an idea to turn an unused area near the playground into a community reading garden. Last Friday, the school community celebrated the opening of that garden following months of planning and hard work.

A trio of teachers — Paula Barnick, Liz Sweeny and Patricia Hopkins — led a committee that executed the idea. They secured a $4,700 grant from Lowe’s which paid for the materials, including wood chips, brick pavers and benches. They sought out volunteers to help build the garden. And they enlisted students to plant flowers.

“A project such as this does not happen alone,” said Principal Frank Huplosky. “It does not happen with one person. It took a community.”

Barnick said that nearly 200 people, including teachers, administrators, staff members, parents, students and community volunteers helped build the garden, located where old playground equipment had been removed. In the fall, volunteers spent a pair of Saturdays doing the most labor intensive work such as building and setting the benches, and putting down the bricks for the walkway. More recently, students gave up their recess time to add the most essential element of any garden — plants.

Third-grade student Kamille Shrestha was one of those volunteers. “This garden, before, it used to be just dirt,” she said. “I didn’t think it could turn into something different but now it’s a beautiful garden.”

She planted Salvia flowers one afternoon during her recess time. “I wanted to help because I got to be part of this garden,” she said.

The garden will serve as an outdoor classroom for teachers and their students, or as a quiet retreat for readers.

The entire student body took part in the May 18 dedication ceremony. Each grade wore a different color. With kindergartners in red, sixth-graders in purple and the middle grades filling out all the colors in between, it truly looked like a rainbow on the school’s back lawn.

Kindergarten and first-grade student recited Patricia Garner’s poem “What Makes a Garden Grow, Grow, Grow?” Fourth-graders sang “Let it Grow” while second and third graders recited “This Little Plant.” The Concert Chorus sang an original song, “Love Can Make Our Garden Grow,” written by music teacher Michael Rodgers. And the older students marched around the garden holding nature-themed flags they made in art class as Mary Ann Cali’s orchestra played.

“We wanted to add color to the day,” said Barnick, noting that many of the garden’s more colorful flowers bloomed earlier in the spring, or have yet to sprout. “And we wanted each grade to contribute something to ceremony.”

Barnick said that construction of the garden went very smooth and the final product exceeded her expectations. She said it wouldn’t have been possible without the school community’s cooperation. “If everybody shares a vision,” she said, “you can do anything.”

Dedicated to Nicholas

In addition to opening the garden, the ceremony included a tribute to Nicholas Lakharam, a Howell Road School graduate who died in December after a battle with cancer. Nicholas finished sixth grade last year.

Members of Nicholas’s family were invited to cut the ribbon to the garden, then stood by as a memorial plaque, surrounded by purple flowers, was unveiled.

Veronica Oquendo, who taught Nicholas in both kindergarten and sixth grade, said money for the plaque came from the Lowe’s grant. She said there was a consensus among garden committee members to dedicated the spot to him.

Oquendo said that Nicholas was an avid reader, so it only made sense to memorialize him at the reading garden. “It’s a little getaway where we can have our little moment with him,” she said.

Some of the students who volunteered to help plant flowers said they did so as a tribute to Nicholas. “Every time I come here, the garden reminds me of him,” said second grader Veronica Estrada, who planted daisies.

Oquendo said that she plans to bring her class out to the garden a lot, whether it is to read or have them study plants for science.

Now that the garden is open, it will still need to be maintained. Oquendo said the school is looking to create a garden club for students who can keep it going during the school year.

Oquendo said everyone who contributed to the garden should be proud. “We created something that is just amazing,” she said. “It was made out of pure love.”