This week, the garden club officially cut the ribbon celebrating their new greenhouse placed in the garden surrounded by beautiful flowers, fall plants and fruit trees. Students greeted teachers, advisors and guests with flowers cut from their own garden.
“I’m excited about the greenhouse because now we get to do garden club longer,” said seventh-grader Teaghan Dalrymple.
Classmate Izzy Ball agreed. “It’s exciting to have the greenhouse now. It gives us even more opportunities to grow things.”
The greenhouse has long been a dream of garden club advisor Carmen Skiba. “You plant something small, give it the right support and care, and sometimes it grows into something far bigger than you ever expected,” she said addressing those who attended the ribbon cutting.
The garden club wrote grants, sold flowers and received donations to make their dream of having a greenhouse come true. Skiba gave special thanks to the Thornapple Area Enrichment Foundation and the Whole Kids Food program for generous grants awarded to help make this dream a reality.
Skiba said the grant will give students the opportunities to practice gardening throughout the year and hopes those extended opportunities will help grow student involvement.
Amy Forman, who was teaching at the middle school in 2016-17, started the garden club. Forman, now Principal at Page Elementary, said at the time there were several students who shared a love of gardening but there weren’t after-school activities that fit their interests. She wrote a board proposal for a project based on a need for additional after school activities. Forman worked with science teacher Sean Davis who wanted to start a pollinator garden and Jessica Endres from food service to help students learn healthy ways to cook some of the vegetables they grew.
Since then, the garden club has continued to flourish. Skiba began dreaming of adding a greenhouse where gardening opportunities could be available throughout most of the year.
“This greenhouse simply would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of the Thornapple Area Enrichment foundation and Whole Foods Kids. Their grants provided funding that turned this idea into a reality. We are incredibly grateful that they saw the value in creating a space where our students can learn, experiment, get their hands dirty, and discover something they love,” said Skiba.
She also thanked a host of community businesses and organizations who have helped throughout the years make this garden club successful.
“Local businesses and organizations believed in what we were doing. Cherry Valley Greenhouse and Cotant’s provided plants over the years, Tractor Supply in Hastings donated tools and helped us purchase our apple trees and MSU extension provided learning opportunities for our students,” said Skiba. “One of my favorite parts of the Garden Club's history is just how many people have stepped up to help along the way. “
She continued offering thanks to many people and organizations who have helped over the years: Carla VanHaitsma and her family for bringing their tractor to till the original garden space; now retired teacher Sean Davis for helping establish the pollinator garden and working with the club; former food services director Jessica Endres for partnering with the club through food service to help students turn what they grew into healthy meals; high school woods teacher Matt Mevlvin and his woodshop students for building the raised garden beds; local farmer Marty Wenger for bringing his tractor over to fill the beds with good soil; Caledonia Concrete helping with the cement slab for the greenhouse; and to Tina Joy, the club’s current co-advisor for all her time, energy and heart she brings to the club.
“Here’s to the next 10 years of the garden club, to everything our students will grow inside this greenhouse and to whatever we decide to build next!”