On Prudential Global Volunteer Day, held Sunday, September 30, Watchung Elementary School families with the help of the Montclair community beautifully landscaped the school grounds showing their school pride.
More than 60 members from Watchung families came with shovels, rakes and lots of enthusiasm to prep and plant the perimeter of the school. Additional assistance was provided from candidates for the National Junior Honor Society at Glenfield Middle School to help fulfill their community service requirement. The school also used the talents of a district parent, Sarah Traylor, whose landscape design firm, Nourish Food & Garden LLC, helped make the right selection of plants.
“Sarah truly made a remarkable difference to ensuring that we finalized the landscape design,” said Jackie McLaughlin, co-chair of the Watchung PTA grounds and
landscaping committee. “We cannot thank her enough or give her enough recognition for her desire to help us.”
In 2010, the Garden Club of Montclair selected Watchung Elementary as the beneficiary of their Presby Iris Garden Plant sale. Watchung parents donated their time to run the sale, and the Garden Club donated the proceeds to the school’s beautification project. The PTA used the funds, totaling $4,700, to purchase all the plants, shrubs andtrees that were planted.
The Watchung PTA hopes to be awarded a Prudential Global Volunteer grant of $1,000 for the school’s future landscaping needs based on the school’s volunteer efforts and meeting Prudential’s grant requirements. Watchung PTA grounds and landscaping committee’s next plan is to continue work on the school’s courtyard, which will bedesigned as a multi-purpose outdoor classroom.
Watchung School students will graduate equipped with skills to be independent life-long learners. Students will demonstrate compassion for others and their environment through an understanding about the interdependence of all living things. Students will be critical thinkers, problem solvers and curious about how things work.
For more information on Nourish Food & Garden LLC, contact sarah@staynourished.com
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