by Diamond Anderson, Jessica Guiracocha, and Olivia Johnson of the Documentation (Web) Committee
The Witt Seminar is a virtual class of intelligent and energetic individuals who take the environment very seriously. We are not only students in Mr. Pultinas English 8 class and members of the Environmental Affairs Club but avid contributors to our school community working to heal our large and still overcrowded school. As a class, we are setting goals for planting and cultivating our school’s garden for the benefit of the entire Dewitt Clinton community. At a time when our school is trying to bring its academic average up and the Department of Education is continuously scrutinizing our school, the Witt Seminar is bringing the critical issue of our school’s environment to the forefront. The garden can become a new space on our school’s campus for learning more about our intimate connections with the natural world. We advocate for sustainability and longevity of not only our own garden but local parks, gardens and urban farms throughout the Bronx. We are also trying to make our fellow students aware of the consequences of eating fast food.
The obesity rate in the Bronx is the highest in the city. If people would pull away from eating unhealthy foods and start eating fruits and vegetables grown at nearby gardens or by themselves, the obesity rate in the Bronx should decline substantially. Being obese not only limits a person’s life, it contributes to potentially fatal diseases such as Heart Disease and Diabetes. However, these diseases are preventable with a healthy diet. This is why the Witt Seminar virtual class is crucial to the school and the community because we are trying to teach the importance of eating healthy and how to prevent food related diseases. The garden is an example of the work we are trying to accomplish.
It is the hope that in the near future the garden would be embraced by the Clinton community. The garden could potentially be a place for classes to come, work and enjoy the scenery. Science teachers could use the garden for demonstrations in real world efforts to explain and depict what they are teaching. The garden would be the perfect place for yoga classes to practice deep relaxation and be one with nature. Other uses for the Garden could be to simply relax. Chairs and tables could be placed on the pavement surrounding the garden and students could sit, read, communicate with each other and or eat their lunch while enjoying the flowers bloom.
The possibilities for the garden are endless and can be made possible with the proper influence and support from the administration and community. In the future the garden could possibly expand, as well as become a trend in schools around the city. Our garden could set an example for other schools that would like to create a garden, but don’t have an example to look to. The garden could be a place to network within the community and NYC Public school system. The countless opportunities the garden can create within the community should not and cannot be limited.
As a small but powerful portion of the DeWitt Clinton High School community, Witt Seminar is planning ways to celebrate our garden and make it a vital component of our school’s improvement. We are seeking to promote awareness and inspire students in our community to be more aware of where food comes from and teach them the difference between fast food and real food. This spring, we have been working on many different activities. Perhaps the key activity is planning an opening celebration to be held in the garden on June 1, 2012. The occasion of the opening coincides with our having received a generous donation from the Walrath Family Foundation that will be used to build a fence around the garden. The fence is not designed to keep people out, but rather as protection for our hard work. This event will welcome students, faculty, and over 12 community organizations that have supported the garden since its beginning. In order to plan for this event, we have set up various committees of students.
Each committee has contributed to make this garden opening celebration a success:
Event Planning Committee is in charge of researching and inviting a list of people to our event. We are inviting people who have contributed to the garden in some way or who may have an interest in what we have accomplished. We are also looking to invite a keynote speaker to address the gathering. Finally, this committee is coordinating the schedule of events. Highlights of the day will include ceremonial plantings, dedications, food served from the garden by Deb Cahill, the Bronx regional chef with Garden to Cafe, student guitarists, speeches, poetry reading, and more.
Publication Committee is generating The Clinton Garden Program. The program will include detailed history of the present as well as past gardens at DeWitt Clinton. The program will also serve to inspire future interdisciplinary activities in the garden. Classes that might may include Biology, AP biology, writing, English, and many more.
Mural Committee is envisioning a work of art to unify the numerous intentions and possibilities that the garden will represent for years to come. The Committee is eliciting ideas and drawings from students that might some day be incorporated into a mural within or in the neighboring space of the garden.
Garden Committee has taken on some of the planning for the garden itself. In doing so, the initiative of this committee has been to help create or support the ecosystems within the garden. Students are constructing a obelisk for vine plants, a birdhouse to different kinds of birds, and an expansion of a native plant/butterfly area to attract different essential pollinators. The committee has been researching in order to select the right kinds of rose bushes to beautify the gate arbor that will soon be constructed at the garden’s entrance.
Ray Pultinas, the coordinator, is very excited to present this wonderful and long awaited event because “something in this school actually works.” We are celebrating a triumph of many hard working students that have taken time to do something positive within the community as a whole. Be sure that our hard work will not end here. We will continue to make the garden a prosperous environment for students, staff, and teachers.
