Green Club, which has been working to develop the Edsel Ford courtyard for the past few months, is now expanding its projects outside the local square.
Nearly ten students attended last Monday’s meeting in room A-4. Mrs. Potter, the club’s director, reviewed ideas for future projects on her display board. These ideas included a fundraiser at a local restaurant and a new cultivation of plants in the greenhouse over the winter. The commitment of several students would be required in order to keep the new plants healthy.
An effort to turn Edsel Ford into a Michigan Green School was also mentioned. This recognition by the State of Michigan is awarded to schools with students who have heightened environmental knowledge and environmentally sustainable behaviors.
After the review period finished, the members of the club moved outside into the courtyard, where they divided into groups. Two students began to clean out the pond using nets to detoxify the water for the three turtles that live within it. Others swept leaves off the concrete platform.
Mrs. Baydoun, the club’s co-director, appeared and discussed potential courtyard developments with Mrs. Potter. These developments include using bricks to build an outline for a garden outside the greenhouse, lining the central path with gravel, and planting zinnias and milkweeds among native plants.
As activity in the courtyard died down and students began to leave for home, Mrs. Potter was happy to discuss Green Club in more detail. When asked about the main focuses of the club, she emphasized teaching sustainability and environmental consciousness to students all around Edsel Ford. “I want kids to walk away from this loving gardening and loving the environment,” she said.
Mrs. Potter also explained her ideas for how the courtyard should be used. She believes that it should act as a secondary environment for classes in the surrounding rooms, calling the area a potential “outdoor classroom” in which students can perform classroom activities like reading or relax on days with low workloads.
This idea of making the courtyard an educational hub can already be seen in its decorations; hanging from the trees are upside-down clay cups strung together vertically. These ornaments were crafted by students in Ms. Aiosa’s ceramics class, who often work with clay to create vases, statues, and other small creations.
Ornaments made by students in Sculpture hang from trees on the courtyard’s south side.
Despite the club’s current plans for the yard, however, Mrs. Potter doesn’t consider the opening to be the club’s main focus. She thinks Green Club should be a group for all things local: the entire campus of Edsel Ford is worth consideration for cleanup, according to her. The greenhouse, in particular, is planned to be a main focus during the winter months, and the courtyard is set to become a main focus during the spring when more students are predicted to become members. Right now, before winter comes, the club wants to focus on whatever is most prevalent.
Again, the Green School goal is mentioned; the label brings with it the potential for increased funding from the State of Michigan to be put towards sustainability and maintenance. Such funding would allow the club to expand its interests further and perform with greater effect.
For now, however, Green Club will focus on getting the greenhouse ready for winter use and securing a restaurant fundraiser plan.
Green Club meets every other Monday starting at 3 PM.
