When a visitor arrives at Springwater and heads towards the playground, one of the first things to catch the eye these days is the new greenhouse. Funded by a HEAL grant, the greenhouse is already working its way into the hearts and minds of the students and staff, and is being used extensively for curriculum in all the grades. However, before any of this, the greenhouse needed to be built.
One of the conditions for final approval of this grant was that the funds had to be matched by the school in terms of materials and/or man-hours. While A. McGill & Son Nursery kindly offered the materials, which still left the actual building process to volunteers. So Casey Beatty, Mark Tilden, Dave Boloto, Hilario Santiago and Carolyn McGill all offered to step in to help to fulfill the grant requirements.
In order to erect the structure, it was necessary to first dig out the footprint for the greenhouse, then lay down ground cloth and gravel. Casey began that process in July, as well as removing a part of the garden fencing. Then life interfered. Being as it was summer, finding a time for all the volunteers to get together proved difficult. Everyone had plans they were trying to work around, and to complicate things further, the supporting poles for the greenhouse were bent out of shape and all needed to be straightened so that the pieces would fit together.
As the summer stretched on, and the poles were finally fixed, some progress was finally able to be seen. After verifying that all the pieces were there and would fit together as they were supposed to, the vertical supporting poles were set in concrete and the top curved poles were attached. Hardware was used to help ensure the greenhouse would stay together, then the ends were covered with a hard polycarbonate plastic and the doors were attached.
At this point, it was down to the home stretch – both on the greenhouse, and for the start of school. Students were due back soon, so the pressure was on to get the greenhouse completed. The last step was to cover the rest of the structure with clear poly, pull it tight and firmly attach it with wiggle wire (A specific kind of wire that looks just like it sounds – wiggly – and is often used in both jewelry making and greenhouse construction.). It was finally complete – and right before school began.
A little over a month into school, and there is already life in the greenhouse. There are lettuce plants and onions growing in there now, with extensive conversations going on between students and teachers about future use. What was an empty space is now one more stepping stone in the science-based, environmental curriculum that drives Springwater on the path to the future.
Article written by : Beth Cummings
One of the conditions for final approval of this grant was that the funds had to be matched by the school in terms of materials and/or man-hours. While A. McGill & Son Nursery kindly offered the materials, which still left the actual building process to volunteers. So Casey Beatty, Mark Tilden, Dave Boloto, Hilario Santiago and Carolyn McGill all offered to step in to help to fulfill the grant requirements.
In order to erect the structure, it was necessary to first dig out the footprint for the greenhouse, then lay down ground cloth and gravel. Casey began that process in July, as well as removing a part of the garden fencing. Then life interfered. Being as it was summer, finding a time for all the volunteers to get together proved difficult. Everyone had plans they were trying to work around, and to complicate things further, the supporting poles for the greenhouse were bent out of shape and all needed to be straightened so that the pieces would fit together.
As the summer stretched on, and the poles were finally fixed, some progress was finally able to be seen. After verifying that all the pieces were there and would fit together as they were supposed to, the vertical supporting poles were set in concrete and the top curved poles were attached. Hardware was used to help ensure the greenhouse would stay together, then the ends were covered with a hard polycarbonate plastic and the doors were attached.
At this point, it was down to the home stretch – both on the greenhouse, and for the start of school. Students were due back soon, so the pressure was on to get the greenhouse completed. The last step was to cover the rest of the structure with clear poly, pull it tight and firmly attach it with wiggle wire (A specific kind of wire that looks just like it sounds – wiggly – and is often used in both jewelry making and greenhouse construction.). It was finally complete – and right before school began.
A little over a month into school, and there is already life in the greenhouse. There are lettuce plants and onions growing in there now, with extensive conversations going on between students and teachers about future use. What was an empty space is now one more stepping stone in the science-based, environmental curriculum that drives Springwater on the path to the future.
Article written by : Beth Cummings