This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Cass Junior High School Gardens for Earth Day

For over 10 years, 7th grade teacher, Marianne Tamosaitis has been growing an elaborate garden outside her classroom with her students at Cass Jr. High. Master Gardeners that are certified from the University of Illinois Extension Program come to the school multiple times throughout the year to help teach about how the garden grows and what needs to be done in order to maintain it. They also come to teach the 7th grade students about ecosystems, plants, animals, symbiotic relationships, as well as give impromptu lessons as they care for the space. Math is also needed in order to determine the amount of mulch, fertilizer, and water that is used to create a healthy garden. Many of the students also volunteer their own time after school for this special, ongoing project.  Cass is also using the garden waste along with lunchroom waste to create a compost pile. The compost pile will provide nutrient rich soil for the garden in the coming months.

The Master Gardeners are volunteers that live in Darien and the surrounding area. They come to Cass 6-7 times per year for:

1.  Garden clean up in the spring.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2. Planting in the spring.

3. Soil class (This also includes a soil expert from the University of Illinois.)

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

4. Worm class

5. Garden prep for the winter in late fall

The variety of plants in the garden have been donated by various people and organizations over the years: Marianne Tamosaitis (science teacher), Sharon Vandenbroucke (Cass support staff member), parents of the district, the master gardeners, Hidden Gardens, a grant awarded from the Darien Rotary Club, and the Morton Arboretum. The Cass District 63 PTC has been funding the garden for the past few years as well. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?