Hey – where'd those bushes go?!
Notice anything different about the school lately? From 9am to noon on Saturday, September 20, 82 volunteers of all ages swarmed the school grounds like ants at a picnic! So many busy hands made light work of the day’s job. In total, we squeezed 215 person-hours of work into one morning! (Remember: those hours translate into money for the school. We get $5 per hour per person from our matching grant from the Durham Open Space and Trails Commission. That’s $1075!!)
First of all, thank you to all the volunteers! It’s amazing to see what great changes can happen when people come together in the spirit of community. Please give a big smile and special thanks to PTA Grounds Chair Sabrina Lamar and Vice-Chair Jenifer Hamil-Luker who worked tirelessly for weeks ahead of time researching, planning, meeting, organizing, buying plants and supplies, roping their families into the process, and in general enabling everyone else to be so productive. Thanks also to the entire Grounds Committee: Lizzy Gilligan, Steve Fugikawa, Alyssa Perz, Karalyn Colopy, Mollie Flowe, and new member York Phelps.
Secondly, here’s what 82 people did for 215 hours!:
In front – The oak trees were freshly mulched. And the old junipers, hollies, monkey grass, and gravel from around the school sign are gone!
Cleaning the school sign
The front yard was weeded and tilled – a clean slate for a new design (which is in the works!!). If you see Bo Gaddy, EC Teacher, around school, please acknowledge his special contribution to the day: lending us his rototiller, which was a critical tool in preparing the soil for new plantings. Not only did he bring the tiller, pick it up, till for us, and let us till in his absence… he also forgave us for returning it to him BROKEN! (and then he fixed it on the spot!)
On the side – Crews weeded and pruned the area by the teachers’ parking lot. We added a low timber wall to prevent soil from washing down the hill into the parking lot, installed metal bed borders to make an attractive border around the bushes, and planted a beautiful gardenia near the front steps, which will fill the air with its heady scent in the spring. We also lined the gravel steps with abelia, lavender, rosemary, and red barberry for additional visual and aromatic interest.
New plantings along walkway
In back – Every last scrap of trash was put in its place, the amphitheater stage was swept, and even the dirt was raked, to give the playground that “well-cared-for” look. Also, Assistant Principal Sheldon Reynolds led a team of highly skilled juniper pruners, who tamed the beastly bushes along the walkway from the playground to the car-pool lane. Those needles are sharp!
By the Primary courtyard – Above the playground in a quiet nook near the building, there is a small courtyard outside the Primary classrooms. There are two raised beds, perfect for small gardening projects. Crews weeded the beds and turned and conditioned the soil. Also, to block the view of the dumpsters from the courtyard, we planted 3 Carolina Jessamine vines, which will grow up and along the chain-link fence to form a wall of yellow flowers.
Steve Fugikawa, tiller extraordinaire
