Growing support for greenhouse project

By Wendy Shaw

Students are keen to get growing as a new greenhouse takes shape at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School in Deloraine.

It’s a welcome addition to the 130-year-old school’s thriving kitchen garden and is the result of months of learning, planning, designing, budgeting and ‘hustling’.

Teacher Deb Jones explained how the project germinated from the seed of an idea last year into the finished structure, thanks to the enthusiasm and persistence of students on an acceleration program.

“We were looking for a focus for them to explore themselves, using their gifts and talents,” she said.

“They had been growing seedlings in science … and one particular grade six boy asked if it was possible to build a greenhouse. And I said anything is possible, we just need to work towards it.”

So they learned how to build a website to keep track of the project. They gave a presentation to school principal Mary Bennett. They researched, designed, budgeted and promoted it.

At the start, the students wondered if the project would ever come to fruition.

But Mrs Jones told them: “We are going to hustle and work really hard to get it done.”

They sought support from community and service groups as well as hardware firms.

“We emailed them and also sent paper copies, because the art of writing a letter is different from what they are used to,” Mrs Jones said.

“We had to think about what was really important to put in there – not just asking for cash or anything like that – because businesses and families are all under the pump.”

The campaign took off. The local Rotary club expressed interest. A hardware firm donated materials. An electrical firm with links to the school offered staff to build the greenhouse. Students cooked them pizzas as a thank you.

“The kids are really excited,” Mrs Jones said.

“We have talked about what we could grow. They want to grow as much as possible so we can do more cooking with the produce … and offer the seedlings we are not using to the community.”

Last year, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School, with around 100 students, won the primary section of the Waste Not Awards, an initiative of Circular North. The school received a trophy and $500 in recognition of its sustainability initiatives included reducing food waste, composting and installing 14 worm farms.

At that time, Ms Bennett said the program linked to a number of curriculum areas, including science, as well as community service and the Laudato si’ teachings of Pope Francis in his encyclical on ‘care for our common home’.