Henry H. Wells Middle School Dedicates Its Renovated Courtyard

Henry H. Wells Middle School had a dedication ceremony earlier this month for its new Brewster Education Foundation Wells Courtyard.

The courtyard, which has been in the works for the last four years, has been a labor of love. The idea for it started when the Wells community read Counting by 7s as their schoolwide read.

The book tells the story of 12-year-old Willow Chance, whose adoptive parents die in a tragic car accident leaving her lost and disconnected. Willow ends up moving into an apartment complex and, noticing its sadness, decides to transform its courtyard into a garden. The garden opens Willow back up and brings the community together around her.

“After reading this book,” said principal John Clark during the dedication ceremony, “several members of our Wells community started looking into the idea of a collaborative way to improve our own courtyard, which was badly neglected after our construction project.”

Overrun with weeds and with sidewalks made of small pebbles that were difficult to walk on and not at all accessible to those with disabilities, community members still saw potential.

“Michelle Gosh, Peggy Zambraski, Irene Othmer, Mike Bellucci, Katie Allen, and Robin Caverly met with Laurie Taylor of the Putnam County Department of Planning,” said Clark. “They also visited Mahopac to look at its courtyard to generate ideas, and the idea for beautifying the space became a reality. Four years later, we are here to officially dedicate the space.”

A lot of hard work was put in between the idea phase and what the space has become. Clark recognized many people within the Brewster community for their contributions to the project including:

• The BEF for grants that helped pay for four trees and the walkways
• The HH Wells Student Government for their donation (also used for the walkways)
• The PTA for their grant donation and money raised through plant sales, which was used to beautify the courtyard with shrubs and plants
• Mike Bellucci and the Builder’s Club who help with the mulching and weeding
• Victor Karlsson, Andy Bates, Kenny Winch, and the Grounds and Maintenance team for their maintenance of the courtyard
• M&M Landscaping for their donations of shrubs
• Dennis Gendron who planted the trees and gave donations

“For us, the courtyard is symbolic of how a community can come together around a common goal,” said Clark. “All of us are driven by our desire to support children and this courtyard will help us to do it by allowing students to use the courtyard as a space for learning, discovery, and relaxation.”

While it has come a long way, there are still so many ideas for what it can become.

“The idea is to keep working forward with it,” said Zambraski. “It’s a work in progress.”

Visions for the future include birdhouses and planters built by the tech department. It includes weather stations and ant farm kits and GoPro cameras to research and watch the activity. Art teacher Irene Othmer and Makerspace students even have ideas for art: a large center sculpture designed by students, a recycled sculpture made from chicken wire and plastic bags, mosaic paths, murals, and art hanging from trees.

“I envision an outdoor class doing poetry or art at smaller sitting spaces,” Zambraski said. “It’s a different space than the normal class environment to get creative juices flowing.”