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"A garden, where one may enter in and forget the whole world cannot be made in a week, nor a month, nor a year; it must be planned for, waited for and loved into being." - Chinese Proverb
Spending time with nature can inspire, encourage, and awaken the soul. Markham’s St. Patrick elementary students now have a place to connect with nature at the school’s new Learning Garden. On September 22, the school community officially blessed the garden, which will act as a place of peace and discovery for staff and students.
Staff, students, parents and special guests were in attendance for the garden’s blessing, which included a moving liturgy led by Fr. Dominic Barber. Guests were also treated to a melodic performance by the school choir, under the direction of teacher Allison Coutts.
Principal Brent Matthews welcomed special guests Anna Van Maris of Parklane Nurseries; the designer of the garden, Rosetta Figliuzzi of TD Canada Trust (Friends of the Environment); Carolina Moretti, Ward 4 Councillor; Mavis Urquhart, Town of Markham’s Environmental Sustainability Fund and York Catholic Superintendent Robert Lostracco.
The Learning Garden was created with grants from community working partners, the MESF the Markham Environmental Sustainability Fund, and TD Friends of the Environment. Parklane Nurseries, a landscaping company known for their "greenscaping" efforts, was a strong collaborative partner in the project. Local nurseries also generously contributed materials.
In order to keep costs down, an enthusiastic group of parent volunteers contributed much of the labour and manpower. Most of the transformation took place over an impressively short amount of time – only two weeks – in May and June. During the blessing, Catholic School Council Chair Anita Keyes thanked the many parent volunteers involved in the project and made a special presentation to parent Kim Omoto, the project leader.
The St. Patrick Learning Garden goes beyond the traditional outdoor classroom, as it features a rain garden, a compost area, and native plant life. The Learning Garden contains elements that will enrich the learning of students across the curriculum, and provides a space for prayer and reflection for staff and students.
Students who are concerned about bio-diversity can cultivate rare varieties of garlic as part of Seeds of Diversity's Great Canadian Garlic Collection, a program aimed at increasing seed stock and collecting information about optimal growing conditions for each variety. The Learning Garden also has many plants which can be cultivated to produce everything form soups to skin creams.
The Learning Garden also has special symbolism for the St. Patrick CES school community. Grade 7 student Timothy Li How Cheong recently passed away from complications resulting from a health condition that challenged him for most of his life. His family was in attendance at the blessing, and volunteers planted a Rose of Sharon in a prominent area of the garden to remember Timmy.
“The plant blooms every September when students return to school,” said Principal Brent Matthews. “It is hoped that its blooms will help the community remember Timmy as school resumes for many years to come.”