WPC School Grounds Greening Project Adds a Touch of Green to Several PPS Schools This Fall
On a brisk fall morning in front of Pittsburgh Langley High School, a group of students stand around an empty hole in the ground. They patiently watch as workers in green “STAFF” coats show them how to plant a row of rhododendron shrubs. As soon as the demonstration is over, the students eagerly rush to grab shovels and claim their own plots of earth. The goal for the day is simple yet substantial: plant over 40 new shrubs and 8 trees to highlight the entrance of their school.
This planting project is just one of many initiated by Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC), an environmental nonprofit working to revitalize Pittsburgh’s school landscapes by using nature. Funded entirely by a $1.5 million grant from the Grable Foundation and with continued support from the Pittsburgh Public Schools, WPC’s School Grounds Greening Project intends to serve each of the 64 Pittsburgh Public Schools by 2011.
The projects are unique to each school, but all incorporate sustainable, low-maintenance greenery to spaces in need of renewal and care. The project is currently in full swing: 41 school projects have already been completed and the remaining schools are set to begin next spring. The project’s ultimate goal is to involve students, teachers, parents, and the entire school community in creating healthy and functional landscapes in which students can learn, play, and grow.
In addition to Pittsburgh Langley, one of 10 school projects worked on this fall, Pittsburgh Carrick High School also featured an excellent turnout of student volunteers. Volunteers came from a range of organizations and classes including a youth leadership program called “The Future is Mine” (TFIM), National Honor Society, and the school’s culinary arts program. Though their backgrounds and interests were diverse, the students worked extremely well together. They faced the challenge of tough, rocky soil with great perseverance and teamwork, and achieved beautiful results. Neat rows of holly bushes and rhododendrons now grace the front of the school, and out back tall arborvitae shrubs brighten up a previously bare wall.
Pittsburgh Gifted Center (1 – 
and Westwood (K – also stand as success stories this fall. At the Gifted Center, Helen Norfleet, the environmental science and landscape architecture teacher, worked side-by-side with a group of dedicated students to plant three perennial flower beds. The students also learned first hand how to plant a tree, and the proper way to spread mulch around a young, sensitive trunk. When the project was completed, Mrs. Norfleet expressed sincere gratitude for the effort “to make this place a better looking workplace and provide our students with an experience they will enjoy and remember for years to come.”
At Pittsburgh Westwood K-8, a small but hard-working group of 10 students cleaned up perennial beds, planted flowering shrubs and decorative grasses, and applied layers of fresh mulch around the plantings. A teacher passing by commended the students who were working for creating a landscape that she will “enjoy looking at every day.”
At each of the school plantings, students’ gardening experiences varied. While some were skilled with shovels from working summer landscaping jobs, others had never seen a worm up close before. Yet despite the range in experience, these planting events provided each student with an opportunity both to learn something from and interact with nature. By the end of the day, most of the students were exhausted but proud. “Check out this tree I planted;” “Come look at the hole I dug,” they’d say, seeking approval from teachers and WPC staff. Whether in high school or elementary school, each student could take satisfaction in knowing they made a difference at their school. By improving these landscapes students showed pride for their schools, all the while setting a positive example for their teachers, parents, and peers to do the same.
Get involved, become a School Tender. School Tenders are volunteers who help care for the new plants provided by WPC at Pittsburgh Public Schools. No horticultural experience is necessary! If you have a passion for plants and want to help make a positive change in a school community you are more than qualified to volunteer.
