June/July 2018 Newsletter: Community Engagement—Native Garden Club Awarded $5K Grant

The Native Garden Club for students in grades 2-4 at Lomond and grades 3-4 at Onaway recently was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Shaker Lakes Garden Club. Club co-advisor and art teacher Tim Kalan says that most of the money will pay for signage for the club’s growing gardens at each school and will enable participating students to fulfill one of their outreach goals: education of our community. This year, the club has also received a $1,500 enrichment grant from the Shaker Schools Foundation to purchase plants.

Nearly 100 students from both schools participate in the club, whose mission is to encourage students to take an active role in growing plants and designing habitat native to Northeast Ohio, and to create partnerships within the community to educate others on the need for preservation. The students meet 10-11 times each year and in May, they planted beds at Onaway and at Lomond.

Onaway fourth-grade teacher Marty McGuan and Native Garden Club co-advisor says that the students are passionate and knowledgeable about native plants: they research appropriate native plants for the local climate, soil, and light conditions, then choose the plants based on what they’ve learned.

"My classroom overlooks two of the garden plots. One day last fall I noticed a monarch butterfly drifting by my window, then another, and another. I realized that migrating monarchs were stopping to refuel at our native plants gardens. It was amazing!,” says Mr. McGuan. “There is something special one can only experience when digging in soil. It is a way to literally stay grounded."