THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410210343
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
WORK AT SCHOOL CAN be a dirty job. Just ask the 30 Forest Glen Middle School students who stay after school every Tuesday planting flowers, weeding flowerbeds and building garden paths.
As members of the school's new Junior Master Gardener Club, they have nurtured dozens of pansies, mums and marigolds into a vibrant carpet of color outside Forest Glen's front entrance.
``When we came here, there were only a couple of trees and some bushes out there,'' said the club's president, seventh-grader Jamie Phipps, 12. ``It was boring . . . and kind of ugly.
``We are trying to help make the school prettier by planting flowers. We're doing this to make the school look better for us.''
Begun this fall by Allen Harbage, a Forest Glen science teacher, the student organization is a spinoff of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service's Master Gardener Training Program. After participants in this eight-week course graduate as master gardeners, they volunteer their time and knowledge to advise area residents on gardening concerns.
Two master gardeners, Robin Grimsley and Kathy Pruden, have adopted the club at Forest Glen. They go to the school each Tuesday to help students cultivate their green thumbs.
``We are involved to share information we have learned through the Master Gardener's class,'' Grimsley said. ``We helped with planning and designing the layout of the courtyard's gardens and drawing up plans for where plants should be put.''
Plans call for the addition of several flowerbeds and a small herb and vegetable garden to be planted in the courtyard next spring, according to Grimsley and Pruden. One corner of the yard will become a bird sanctuary.
Smithfield Garden donated more than $700 in plants, flowers and shrubbery to the club. Also, the Bethlehem Ruritan Club donated shovels, rakes and other tools valued at $50.
``We are making the school look nice,'' said Jessica Neild, 11. ``Now, when kids are sitting in their desks and doing work that is really boring, they can look out and see the flowers.''
The organization is doing more than beautifying the school, added seventh-grader Amy Edwards.
``Plants make the air cleaner because they make oxygen,'' Amy said. ``The more plants we have, the more oxygen is in the air.''
According to Harbage, flowers aren't the only thing thriving and blooming because of the Junior Master Gardeners Club's work.
So are the students in grades six, seven and eight who belong to the organization, Harbage said, adding that the club's activities have strengthened many club members' character, leadership skills and self-esteem.
``You don't have to be a (sports or athletic) star to be good at this,'' Harbage said. ``The Junior Master Gardener's Club crosses class boundaries and gives kids who wouldn't normally have the opportunity to interact at school the chance to mix and become friends.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Jesse Pruden of the Bethlehem Ruritans helps Daniel Green, left, and
Shawn Greene put together a wheelbarrow. The group donated equipment
to the gardening club.
by CNB