At 11:45 a.m. on May 15, 2009, Mayor Tom Henry and Father Joe Gaughan officially opened the Discovery Garden at Most Precious Blood School, 1529 Barthold Street, during a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration. Also in attendance were Fort Wayne Police Department Captain P.J. Smith, Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Saint Francis Dr. Gary Bard, Project Learning Tree coordinator Donna Rogler, project leader and University of Saint Francis Environmental Science major Leslie Hamilton, her mentor from the university Dr. Teri Beam, USF volunteers, and the many students and staff at Most Precious Blood school.
The garden was planted by Most Precious Blood students with the help of University of Saint Francis volunteers as a truly interdisciplinary community service project. Teachers and students at Most Precious Blood will learn about the science of soils, fossils, rocks, water cycle, nutrient cycles, plants, and animals and the history and culture of Native Americans and their use of plants such as maize and squash. One of the teachers, Ann Baker, and her students have painted signs for the garden on slate tiles from a convent that was torn down on the church and school grounds. Mrs. Baker and her students also created stepping stones with glass inlays for use on the garden walkway as a way of incorporating art and design into the garden. The health and nutrition gained through the physical activity of gardening and the technology of maintaining a live web cam feed into the classroom are other components of the garden. The school plans to donate the food to needy families and use the garden to promote interdisciplinary learning. The project is well suited to the mission and values of the University of Saint Francis.
In conjunction with the opening of the Discovery Garden, Indiana licensed teachers were able to earn three CRUs by participating in four Project Learning Tree workshops held this spring. The workshop lessons were facilitated by Leslie Hamilton and Trina Herber, University of Saint Francis. Lessons included Schoolyard Safari, Web of Life, Fill the Bill, Invasive Species, Have Seeds Will Travel, and Native Ways.
All of this has been made possible through the 2008 GreenWorks! Community Action and Service Learning Grant in the amount of $5,000 awarded to Leslie Hamilton and Dr. Teri Beam. This grant is sponsored by Project Learning Tree which is an award winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education program for educators and students in PreK through grade 12. Project Learning Tree is a national program of the American Forest Foundation which strives to increase students' understanding of our environment, stimulate students' critical and creative thinking, develop students' ability to make informed decisions on environmental issues, and instill in students the commitment to take responsible actions on behalf of the environment.
