Category Archives: our school yard greening project

Aviva Community Fund: Ideas for our new school yard

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Evergreen has produced an impressive series of photographs and charts based on the consultation of Andrew Harvey that took place with all our students last month.

The beauty of this plan is that it has the handprint of each and every student on it. Andrew talked to all of them and he is coming back at the end of the month to make sure he got the plans right.

The Aviva Competition is very important for us – it gives us a national platform to show people what a Canadian inner city playground really looks like.

Andrew’s work gives all of us even more information on how the students feel about their yard.

The amazing thing is the students accept what they have, but they really deserve so much more. Take a look at this collection of material. You can show your support for our kids by becoming a regular voter in the Aviva Campaign. Change can happen and our kids deserve better.

St. Ant Problems

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This is what we expect the yard to look like as the changes take place.

This is what we expect the yard to look like as the changes take place.

The Gardens of St. Anthony

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The grounds around St. Anthony are quite beautiful. It was the first school yard greening project in the City of Ottawa back when John Dorner was the principal.

Ann Coffey, one of the original designers of the beautiful greened area in the yard writes,  “the quiet natural “island” was also to be used as an outdoor classroom. Two years after we removed the asphalt from that area and planted the trees, we did a plant ID. There were 210 species of plants, and many of them were “volunteer” wildflowers. We had all four species of goldenrods found in natural areas in Eastern Ontario, and we hadn’t planted any of them. It was really lovely there – full of the sounds of crickets and birds…”

The area is still beautiful, but it is really time for a renewal of the original project. Working with our school board, Ann Coffey, Andrew Harvey of the Evergreen Foundation and especially the students, staff and parents of the St. Anthony community, we plan on revitalizing the gardens of St. Anthony.

 

 

Some areas really need some weeding, but even in these areas we were able to find native plants like milkweed which are very good for attracting butterflies.  Other plants like the hostas in the back gardens are thriving with the shade from the central island of trees.

I think the most exciting part of this new project will not be the new trees and plants we bring into our yard, it will be the collaborative spirit that will bring all of us together to come up with a new plan that involves our students, staff and parents.  In my experience, that will build the spirit we will need to maintain our new gardens in the years to come.

I hope our wider community becomes involved in this project. The trees and gardens of St. Anthony can offer a great deal to the greening of the entire community.

Let’s make this an island of natural health and beauty in our neighbourhood.