18 - Friday, May 31, 1991 — North Shore News HOME & GARDEN School spearheads garden project “IT ALL started a couple of years ago,"’ says Brad Lund, vice-prin- cipal at Lynamour Community School. ‘when Brian Scarr, the Grade 7 teacher, found the levels of paper wastage around the school impossible to live with."’ Brian Scarr decided to place two collection boxes. one for white paper and one for colored, in every classroom. By Jean Clifford Contributing Wricer The school’s small paper recycl- ing project now provides funds for the Grade 7 field trips and year end cantp-out. Once paper recycling got under way, Norm Nichals,a Grade 6 teacher at Lynnmour, brought up the fact that an awful !ot of food scraps appeared in waste baskets every day. The staff decided that com- Posting would solve this problem and would give children an accu- tate sense of what actually hap- pens to garbage. Vac Koven, the crossing guard and an ac- complished carpenter, built two sturdy compost boxes. Children now separate their garbage, put- ting appropriate food scraps into a small bucket which classroom monitors then place in the com- post box. Every project experience, hassle, and in this case, several rats (now long gone), educated everyone about the best size for a wired compost box. Undaunted, Brad Lund = ap- proached the school’s parent council with a new idea. **Why not build a garden?’’ he sug- INTERLOCK PAVING STONE INSTALLERS Specialists in interlocking paving stones for sidewalks, driveways, pools and patios. We offer the widest variety of shapes and colors. Free estimates, fully experienced staff, professiona! results. Call the Elan Paving Stone Company Ltd. gesied, “‘so that children can see how compost material can be properly re-used.*’ The parent council enthusiastically endorsed the idea, making the garden one of their fundraising projects for the year. Parent council president Lynne Wik speaks modestly of their con- tribution. ‘‘We owe a great debt to past councils,’’ she says, ‘‘for they established the Salmonid Enhancement project and gave us a sense of continuing commitment to the local community.” Lund gives much credit to this year’s council. ‘*Without these parents’ support and money, the garden wouldn't have happened,” he states. Having secured money for ma- terials, Lynnmour School took ihe project one step further by asking for help from Capilano College’s Horticulture program director, Les Koskitalo. ‘‘We took that step because the college resides right in our local community,’ says Lund, “*but at the time, we had no idea they even had a_ horticulture department.”’ Koskitalo fully endorsed the project, saying that his students could provide labor, plans, and some assistance with future cur- riculum ideas. ‘tOur garden became part of their course cur- ticulum,’’ says Lund. In September, Koskitalo presented two different proposals to the school, and the staff and parent council chose one. On March 25, 15 to 18 Capilano College students descended upon Lynnmour School, built a wali and most of the garden, and finished it up the next day, “Once we had the garden," 434-5927 |f SOLID PINE & OAK FURNITURE All the furniture in our showroom is ¢ Living Room Furniture * Entertainment Centres * Bookcases « Bunkbeds * Bedroom Suites located at — ORS 1142 Boundary Rd. (across 2nd Narrows, left on Hastings, right on Bo . (=) PHONE 291-1488 =—Open Mon-Sat. 9am-spm. Sunday 1230-5pm says Lund, ‘‘we could now figure oul ways to involve each class.”” Each classroom has their own plot, and they decide on the fruit, flower, or vegetable they wish to plant there. The two classes with plots against a large chain fence chose sweetpeas in the background; the Grade 6°s then added nasturtiums and sunflowers, while the Grade 4’s each planted a marigold. The Grade 3 plot is full of tomatoes and potatoss. Other classes are currently deciding on choices. ‘‘We hope to have the curriculum loosely incor- porate the garden,’ says Lund. “It's intended for whatever the teacher wishes — to see seeds grow, natural cycles, that kind of thing.’” On May 3 the garden officially opened. Lynne Wik, parent coun- cil president, planted a dwarf Orange Cox apple tree in the garden’s centre to celebrate the opening. Students will weed and water the garden until the end of June, and the parent council and Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs will keep an eye on it over the summer. “I like the project,’’ says Wik, “*because it’s a real partnership. The school staff, the students, the parent council, and the loca! col- lege have ail contributed.”” Next year, Phase 2, the council hopes to fund a small chain-link fence ic protect the garden. Phase 3 includes a possible green house or cold frames. If you have garden expertise or suggestions on how to make this garden grow, and would like to contribute to this local project, contact Lynn- mour Community School, at 986-2224, * Reface or replace your existing cabinets jtten eS ee written § ft and receive 4 e Redo the counters * Kitchen & bathroom remodelling our specialty CO-ORDINATED KITCHENS is. Noth van” 985-9128 D & M Contracting Ltd. A subsidiary of Canadian Gun-Crete and Crouting Ltd. 23 years experience in concrete restoration. Authorized Approved Applicator SPRAY-CRETE - Reantiful. And Stsunyer Than Concrete. Complete resurfacing of: e POOL DECKS ° DRIVEWAYS © PATIOS e WALKWAYS OPEN 8am-4pm MON-FRI. FOR A FREE ESTIMATE AND MORE INFORMATION poone 980-2114 = Fax 980-4218 Silence is Golden! The Silent Floor. A better way to build a floor. Ordinary lumber can warp, twist and shrink. When it does,the floor develops bumps. Dips. And Squeaks. 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