Students all over Swampscott should be prepared; gardening will be the next big thing if teachers at the high school have it their way.
Joseph Bennett, a Special Education teacher at Swampscott High School first came up with the idea of creating a garden behind the high school building after watching a report on creating gardens in schools broadcast by the television show “60 Minutes.”
“My [class]room overlooks the space,” Bennett said. “It was a patch of grass that was completely underutilized. I spoke with [Joanna] Ganci [the English department head], and we decided to apply for a grant from the Swampscott Education Foundation.”
The SEF initially rejected the application, citing that more of a tie-in with education was necessary, Bennett said. Bennett and Ganci then turned to Brandy Wilbur, the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Coordinator for the high school.
“[Wilbur] has more experience with grants and a working knowledge of STEM,” said Bennett. “So we revamped the grant and we were given $10,000.”
However, the $10,000 is not enough funding to cover all that the trio hopes to create in the garden.
“We reached out to local landscapers and got in touch with Lahey Landscapers,” said Bennett. “They made the garden beds…we brought in a landscape architect who took pictures of the space and a created a whole design.”
The garden remains to be finished, and Bennett hopes that a local landscaping or construction company will help with the completion of the project.
However, more funding is necessary in order to complete the garden. On Thursday, May 9, the three teachers will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony fundraiser to celebrate the beginning of the garden and to raise money for the yet to be completed aspects of the garden.
The event is sponsored by Lynn Meatland, which is donating all food and services free of charge, as well as Treadwell’s Ice Cream of Peabody. Dinner will be provided for $10 a person, and sundaes for $5.
The garden was presented to the School Committee at a March 27 meeting, where it was described as an outdoor classroom consisting of picnic tables and chairs, an amphitheatre, a meditation garden, the garden beds, and a work table and classroom area.
Other fundraising efforts were mentioned, including a memorial brick project, in which participants could pay to have their or another’s name engraved on a brick, which would then be placed as a part of the garden.
Classes have already begun working on the garden, completing tasks such as soil testing.
“We want to cultivate relationships with teachers,” said Bennett. “It’s up to them to use the space…and not just high school teachers, but teachers from every school in the district.”
For more information, visit highschool.swampscott.k12.ma.us and visit the Outdoor Classroom page
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