For most students, the “new school year” routine is pretty run of the mill. (It’s not like you’ve done this for 11 years already or anything…) The classrooms may have flip flopped a bit, but the cafeteria, the gym, the lobby, the office, well, let’s just say the scenery hasn’t changed much. While a lot of the school seems to have done nothing but collect a little dust over the summer, the “turtle garden”, the area bordered by the cafeteria and the surrounding hallways, may as well have been featured on extreme makeover, habitat edition! Over the summer, the science club put in a little elbow grease and turned what used to be a forgotten lot into a chelonian paradise.
“We’ve wanted to do this for a while, and we decided we wanted to give the school a new place to admire and be more green within the school,” said former Science Club president, junior Pablo Morales.
The renovations have been a long time coming, since the area had been passed by for years. No one seems to know the origin of how the turtles arrived in the courtyard, but over time they had been left to fend for themselves in what was slowly becoming a schoolwide eyesore.
“Mr. Cecrle, a former teacher here, had started the science club about 11 years ago and I took over when he left- and in all that time I’m not sure who had tried to maintain it, but we thought it really needed some attention,” said Science teacher, Mrs. Mau.
The task seemed daunting at first. What remained of the original design had been sort of lost over time, and there was a dying tree stump serving as a centerpiece. Most of the original plants were still clinging to life, but the bushes had to be torn up. Digging up the rotting tree stump, uprooting the bushes and trimming the flowers was just the first step of the renovation.
“We cut down all the bushes, planted flowers, and dug a hole where we put in the new pond that’s out there now. We all volunteered and it took us about a week or two, and then Mrs. Mau kept working,” said senior Science Club member, Felicia Nelson.
The science club salvaged what they could in the beautification process, but bringing new life to the garden required a little outside help.
“The students did most of the manual labor, but the school matinence crews helped out and gave us tools to make that possible. Mrs. Davis and Miss Adams donated plants, and Dr.Valle from the Meat Animal Research center helped as well,” said Mau.
With all the hours they’ve put in, project turtle pit may sound like a completed one, but there’s still work to be done, Mau says.
“The only thing we’d like to finish up would be bringing in new sod- the turtles live off that, and what’s in there now is patchy and has a lot of weeds, but we’re still in need of a sponsor for that because it would cost about $700,” she said.
Though this detail will have to wait till it’s financed, the science club has already accomplished some major remodeling in the turtle garden. With the combined efforts of the science club, their fearless leader Mrs. Mau and community doaners, the turtle garden has transformed into something that we’re proud to have a the focal point of our school.
