Community Garden and Picnic Area

Grade Level: 9-12

Academic Areas: Science, Technology

Duration of service: 1-2 months

Service Areas: Environmental, Human Services

Service Learning Project:

The Lyndonville Central School District’s mission is to work with the community as partners to provide our students with the values, attitudes, knowledge, skills, and encouragement necessary to enable them to successfully meet life’s challenges. In order to realize this mission, the High School Building Leadership Team discussed potential service learning projects that would provide opportunities for our students to contribute to the community. The LA Webber High School BLT and a committee of students will work in a partnership with the Lions Club to plan and construct a community garden and picnic area.

In preparation for this project, the BLT and the student committee will identify an area that is easily accessible to the Lyndonville community and the students to convert into a garden and picnic area. The early stages of this project will include the following: researching local soil types and quality, researching the plants and shrubs that thrive in this environment, drawing plans for the garden and picnic area, and developing a list of supplies and materials necessary to construct durable picnic tables. In order to understand the importance of working with the community, Dick Pucher from the Lions Club will educate the students on the importance and the benefits of providing service to the community. Jeff Gress, the high school technology teacher, will meet with the students to discuss and develop plans for the construction of the tables to be used in the picnic area. Kathy Wronski, the Ecology teacher, and Brian Frey, the Agriculture Club advisor, will work with the students on soil sampling and landscape ideas for the community garden area.

The students will complete all the work necessary to make this community garden and picnic area a reality. They will test the soil and purchase the landscaping supplies necessary to complete this project (i.e. different types of plants and shrubs that would be appropriate for the garden as well as any mulch and garden tools). In order to stay within the constraints of a limited fixed budget of $260.00, the students will shop for best prices of landscaping supplies from local nurseries. In conjunction with Ms. Wronski and Mr. Frey, the students will also draw plans for the community garden and picnic area, and they will do all of the manual “grunt” work, which includes: planting the shrubs, landscaping the area, and building the picnic tables.

Throughout the project, students will keep a journal to reflect on their experiences. The students will also write an editorial for the local newspaper, and make a presentation to the Lions Club about their experiences throughout the project as well as what they have learned about providing service to the community. The students will understand the importance of working with the community and that their contributions can greatly impact their environment.

A celebration will be held to acknowledge the work of the students, teachers, Lions Club, and community members for their efforts in making this project a reality. A luncheon will be held at the picnic area to recognize the hard work of the students, staff, and community members, and to provide an opportunity to discuss and share all that was gained from this experience.

ACADEMIC LINK

Testing the quality of the soil at the project site and research the characteristics of different types of plants and shrubs that would thrive in this area parallels the New York State Standards for Math, Science, and Technology, more specifically, the Living Environment standards. By completing this project, the students will have a real life practical example to connect their knowledge from their Biology and Ecology classes with their work on this project. Also, the students will be designing the community garden and picnic area, and they will be utilizing the technology shop to make the picnic tables. Developing a landscape design and constructing durable picnic tables are based on the CDOS standards of New York State. The reflection piece of the project, journal entries and editorials, will reinforce the use of essential writing skills that have been taught and learned in English classes.

CHARACTER LINK

Planning, developing, and constructing the community garden and picnic area reinforces positive character traits that will assist the students in becoming productive citizens. During the project, the students will partner with community leaders in order to facilitate the planning and construction. In order to understand the importance of working with the community, Dick Pucher from the Lions Club will educate the students on the importance and the benefits of providing service to the community. The goal of this service learning project is to assist our students with thoughtfully organized experiences that meet community needs, they will feel proud as citizens of Lyndonville upon completion of a lasting landmark in their community. Finally, the students will a make presentation to the Lions Club about their experiences as a contributing citizen as well as what they have learned about providing service to the community.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

To summarize the mission of Lyndonville Central School District, the school will partner with the community to promote global citizenship in each student. In order to measure the effectiveness of this projects efforts, a pre-project and post-project survey will be created and administered. Each student will answer a series of questions in regards to their understanding of citizenship and service learning. Upon completion of the project, the results from each survey will be compared in order to assess the success of the program.

TIMELINE AND LOCATION

The construction of the tables will take place in the L.A. Webber high school technology shop. Shopping for landscape supplies and shrubs will take place at Wal-Mart in Brockport. The Community Garden and Picnic Area will be place near the playground, which is located on the grounds of L.A. Webber High School.

Early – Middle April: Discussion with Lions Club regarding service to the community

Middle May: Test soil and research plants and shrubs

End May: Build the picnic tables

Early June: Shop for and plant shrubs

End June: Celebration

Goals and Objectives

Academic

Learning Goal: The students involved in the project participated in activities the resulted in the construction of 4 picnic tables and the development of a garden area. During this project, the students linked their knowledge, understanding, and prior experiences of basic tools, teamwork, and assembly line production to work collaboratively in small groups to plan, measure, cut, assemble, and stain the lumber that is required for building the picnic tables.

Standard: Career Development and Occupational Studies Standard 2  

Learning Goal: The students involved in the project participated in activities the resulted in the construction of 4 picnic tables and the development of a garden area. During this project, the students reflected upon their knowledge of Biology, classification systems, and eco-systems in order to create a landscape design for the garden area. The students researched the soil types and the duration of sunlight to make thoughtful a selection of the type of shrubs and plants that would thrive in the garden area.  

Standard: Math, Science, and Technology Standard 4  

Service

Community need: Lyndonville Central School District has partner with the community to build a playground for school and community use. This project was an excellent opportunity for our students, staff, and community to work together for a common goal. The district is currently planning another playground. There is no seating for parents, teachers, and community members to use while the children and students are playing on the playground. The creation of the Community Garden and Picnic Area provides parents, teachers, and community members with a place to where they can closely monitor their students and children, and it provides the community with a place that they can use for a picnic.  

Possible Community Partners: The students and staff of L.A. Webber High School partnered with the Lyndonville Lions Club to make this project a reality. Mr. Dick Pucher and Mr. Jeff Gress (both of the Lions Club) worked with the students throughout the project to provide them with information regarding the community service and with guidance during the physical labor of the project.  

Objective: One goal for this service-learning project was to create a space on the beautiful grounds of Lyndonville Central School District for the community to enjoy. This Garden and Picnic Area provides the parents, teachers, and community with a quiet place to sit outside to enjoy the surroundings, have a picnic, read a book, or hang-out to enjoy the view of the creek.  

Objective: Another goal is to provide parents and community members with an area where they can be close to their children while they are using the playground. With the Garden and Picnic Area positioned near the playground, parents, teachers, and community members will be close by and able to provide adequate supervision of the children that are using the playground. The increased supervision will ensure the safety of the children while they are using the playground.  

Character

Virtue: Citizenship and Community Service  

Objective: During this project, the students partnered with the Lions club to facilitate the completion of this project. At the start of this project, the students invited Lion Dick Pucher to come and speak to them about the importance of community service. The students demonstrated this virtue by working with a community organization and their peers to make this project a reality. The students feel proud for developing a lasting landmark that can be enjoyed by the students, staff, parents and community.  

Virtue: Responsibility  

Objective: To successfully complete any project, the individual making it happen must demonstrate a tremendous amount of responsibility. During this project the students demonstrated responsibility in many ways. To construct the picnic tables, the students used power equipment, tools, and stain. The students use the equipment, tools, and stain in the proper manner in order to ensure the safety of the students. Also, these students made a commitment to work on this project for two months. The amount of time these students gave to complete this project and the cooperative work they did with the Lions Club demonstrates responsibility.  

Key Activities

Key Planning Activities

1. The High School Building Leadership team began meeting in September to discuss possible ways to involve the students and community that would result in a product that could be used by both parties. After reviewing the different needs of the community, the idea for creating a Community Garden and Picnic Area was developed. The BLT drafted a proposal to apply for funding for this project and made contact with the local Lions Club Chapter to create a partnership. After the partnership was developed, a general timeline was created, and a group of students was identified and asked to participate in this project.  

2. Students were included in the planning process as well. There are three student representatives on the Building Leadership Team that also volunteered their time to the completion of this project. At the initial meeting, the students worked with Mr. Gress to plan the construction of the picnic tables. Mr. Gress and the students created several small groups of students and task lists for each of the groups. They also created a timeline for completing the work that lasted several weeks during after-school hours. Mr. Gress and the students had a group that was responsible for measuring and cutting the lumber, a group that assembled the base and supports, a group that assembled and attached the tops and the benches to the base, and a group that stained the tables and prepped the tables to be placed outside. Following the construction of the tables, the students researched the soil type and quality for the area and researched the different shrubs and plants that thrive in those conditions. The students designed a plan for the landscaping.  

 Key Service Activities

1. The High School Building Leadership team began meeting in September to discuss possible ways to involve the students and community that would result in a product that could be used by both parties. After reviewing the different needs of the community, the idea for creating a Community Garden and Picnic Area was developed. The BLT drafted a proposal to apply for funding for this project and made contact with the local Lions Club Chapter to create a partnership. After the partnership was developed, a general timeline was created, and a group of students was identified and asked to participate in this project. In order to understand the importance of working with the community, Dick Pucher from the Lions Club came to the school to speak with the students on the importance and the benefits of providing service to the community. This took place at the beginning of the project (after the planning phase and prior to the action phase). The goal of this service learning project is to assist our students with thoughtfully organized experiences that meet community needs, they will feel proud as citizens of Lyndonville upon completion of a lasting landmark in their community. After Lions Club member Dick Pucher spoke to the students about community service, the students started meeting with Jeff Gress after school in the high school technology shop. The students worked with Mr. Gress to plan the construction of the picnic tables. Mr. Gress and the students created several small groups of students and task lists for each of the groups. They also created a timeline for completing the work that lasted several weeks during after-school hours. Mr. Gress and the students had a group that was responsible for measuring and cutting the lumber, a group that assembled the base and supports, a group that assembled and attached the tops and the benches to the base, and a group that stained the tables and prepped the tables to be placed outside where they would be used by the teachers, students, parents, community members, and children as a quiet place to sit outside to enjoy the surroundings, have a picnic, read a book, or hang-out to enjoy the view of the creek. After three weeks of working on the tables (the middle of the project), the students researched the soil type and quality for the area and researched the different shrubs and plants that thrive in those conditions. The students designed a plan for the landscaping. The students worked collaboratively to till the soil, plant the shrubs, lay the mulch, and edge the beds to finish the Community Garden and Picnic Area that will be next to the playground on the campus of L.A. Webber High School.  

2. At the completion of the project, the students will be involved in a celebration. After several weeks of hard work, the students, Jeff Gress, Dick Pucher, and the high school BLT will utilize the Community Garden and Picnic area to enjoy beautiful grounds of Lyndonville Central School District.  

Key Reflection Activities

1. (oral) Oral Presentation-The students will make a presentation to the Lions Club.  

2. (written) Journal-The students make daily journal entries throughout the course of the project.  

3. (performance) Citizenship Survey-The students were given a survey at the beginning and the end of the project.  

Celebration Activity

At the completion of the project, the students will be involved in a celebration. After several weeks of hard work, the students, Jeff Gress, Dick Pucher, and the high school BLT will utilize the Community Garden and Picnic area to enjoy beautiful grounds of Lyndonville Central School District. The parents of the students will be invited to share in our celebration. This celebration with provide the students with an opportunity to enjoy some refreshments and to engaged in discussions about the project that they had completed.