What was once the site of a modular classroom on the yard of the Crestomere School will soon be a bird and butterfly garden, a place for pathways and bridges and the “thinking tree.”
Staff and students at the school — around 20 km west of Ponoka — have been working on a project to naturalize the 40-metre-by-60-metre site over the past four years.
Students were first consulted about what they would like done and there were plenty of ideas, among them a roller coaster, pool or basketball court. But many other students just wanted a nice place to sit outside.
Crestomere School educational assistant Kathy Bogath, with students’ help, has worked on the project.
They’ve done presentations locally and had seed fundraisers, bottle drives and movie nights to collect the $12,000 to complete the work. They also recently received $6,000 from Cargill towards the project.
An outdoor classroom has already been set up, with a circle of round boulders, shaded by 50-year-old willows and Manitoba maples that seem to drape the area in a tent of green.
Many of the students were hoping for a pond or creek, but safety concerns prohibit it. Instead they will have a dry creek bed, made out of various stones, with bridges going over top.
Bogath said they hope to plant apple trees, with students in the future being able to make pies out of the apples, as well as growing pumpkins for the fall in the garden.
Natural species of plants will be put in the area so students can examine them in science class, as well as plants to attract butterflies, bugs and birds so those creatures can be studied.
Bogath said because it is a naturalization, not beautification, project, the focus will be on having local native plants.
One of the older trees has taken on the name the “thinking tree” because it has branches that spread out like fingers in a baseball glove, giving the 150 students at the kindergarten to Grade 9 school a place to sit and read a book.
They hope to complete the work on the property for a grand opening in the fall.
Crestomere Principal Penny Mueller said the students have been major players in the whole development from inception, to planning, to the work phase.
“We are a rural school and these are rural kids. They love the outdoors and this is really important to them,” Mueller said.
“It gives them the opportunity to get outside to be involved with nature. It is part of who they are and part of their being.”
Mitch Dunz, a Grade 9 student at Crestomere, loves the outdoors and is an avid hunter, hoping for a moose licence this year.
He likes that he can be outside and still be in class as part of the outdoor classroom.
“Outside is better for me. I kind of get tired of being cooped up in class,” said Dunz, who has been one of the students who have presented the funding proposal to local businesses and organizations and also helped trim some of the dead branches around the site.
“My favourite part is going to be that you can come out here at recess and during class,” Dunz said.
“I think the garden is going to be pretty cool because we can use some of the food for fundraisers, like pumpkins for pie.”
Cretomere School is located in the Wolf Creek Public Schools division.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com