Memorial School Celebrates Earth Day Early and Often

After a long cold winter, and some chilly wet weather this spring, the Earth Day event at Eatontown’s was something of a coming out party—or more appropriately a going out party. Students and their advisers worked and basked in the glow of both the abundant sunshine on Thursday and the tremendous achievement of a project they had been working on throughout the school year.

Under the instruction of science teacher Jill Wetzel and guidance counselor Lori Boyd, students from the school’s Community Service Alliance (CSA) club participated in various environmental projects on April 14 to revitalize the school’s courtyard and commemorate Earth Day 2011.

Wetzel explained that students had been learning about pollution, recycling and planting in their seventh grade science classes throughout the year. The courtyard project gave them the ability to apply some of what they learned and incorporate it into the CSA as a service project.

The courtyard at Memorial had fallen into years of disrepair and neglect, explained Wetzel. The first step to returning it to its intended purpose—to be an outdoor learning space for students—was to clear the area of old growth and trees and to remove the foundation of a former greenhouse to make room for a new one.  After the heavy lifting was complete, students and advisers began preparing the soil and planting trees, shrubs and bulbs for spring growth. 

The centerpiece of the courtyard project is a large, newly constructed greenhouse. Wetzel showed students how to plant and grow fruits and vegetables from seed in the greenhouse on Thursday, while other students crafted cement mosaic stepping stones to create a path to the greenhouse.  Recycled old chairs, saved from the trash, were cleaned up and painted. Picnic tables were built to create a new outdoor classroom.

Two grants, one from the American Forest Foundation and another from Learn and Serve America, helped pay for the metamorphosis of the plot. 

The students’ efforts were evident: The space is now lush and clean and covered in flowers that grow from student-tended, compost nourished soil in the ground, or in pots and baskets and many of the items in the refurbished area came from recycled materials. 

The Memorial School Greenhouse will yield a sustainable garden of crops that will be donated to local food pantries, according to Wetzel. Students will continue working in the greenhouse and in the outdoor classroom through the end of the school year.

Wetzel admitted that most of her students lacked experience with gardening, but she hoped they’d make up for it through their enthusiasm and their dedication to the project.

“I think that now more than ever students are grasping the fact that they are responsible for their own footprint,” Wetzel said.  “Students are starting to understand the future impacts of present day excesses.”