Franklin Fine Arts Center won two awards at Mayor Daley's
2009 Landscape Awards in November. Not only did we win our
division (Area 3 School) we won Gardener of the Year! Read
the official
press release.
Pictured below at the Awards Banquet
are (l-r): Art teacher Margaret Koreman, Parent Tom Scholle,
Parent Randy Moderhack, Mayor Daley, Ellen Moderhack with her
children Daniel and Madeline, Principal Carol Friedman, Alderman
Vi Daley, Dept. of Environment Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna
and Morton Arboretum President and CEO Gerard T. Donnelly,
Ph.D.
Below is a program excerpt from Mayor Daley:
"I am especially proud to honor Franklin Fine Arts Center
(FFAC) as the 2009 Gardener of the Year. Led by parent Ellen
Moderhack, the community group consisting of teachers, parents,
students, local artists and Openlands pulled their resources
together to create this spectacular, Asian-inspired public
school garden. The goal of the garden is to create a peaceful
and tranquil space where the artistic spirit in each student
can be nurtured. The devoted group of volunteers water responsibly,
use only organic methods and weed by hand. Their efforts
have enhanced the quality of life for the students at FFAC
and the surrounding community. The positive impact that gardens
like FFAC have on our environment and quality of life cannot
be understated."
Garden Committee Mission
To redesign, revitalize, and maintain the garden space in
front of the school so that it (1) can be used for both teacher
instruction and school events; (2) appropriately reflects
the fine arts focus of the school; and (3) is aesthetically
pleasing to the community. The Asian-inspired garden now
includes two outdoor classrooms—a circle of benches
around a sunken area of chipped bluestone and an elevated
deck with additional benches. Both areas seat an entire class
and have been used for class instruction.
Garden History
With funding from Openlands, the garden renovation began
in the fall of 2006 with a redesign of the space to improve
its functionality. In the spring of 2007, parents cleared
the area of unwanted plant material and installed the benches.
A professional landscape company was hired to build the new
learning circle .
Several “student work days” were
then scheduled to install all the plants. With direction from
parent participants and Openlands, the students removed unwanted
plant material and landscape fabric, lifted and re-laid hundreds
of river stones, shoveled and spread compost onto the beds,
turned the soil over, planted the new shrubs and evergreens,
and then mulched the beds to finish the project. It was a massive
undertaking over three days and was enjoyed by all the students.
Over the summer, parents volunteered for watering and weeding
and in the early fall, perennials were donated by the Old
Town Garden Center, and a few more shrubs were planted by
students.
In late fall, FFAC was the fortunate recipient of
additional funding from Openlands and several outside donations.
This enabled us to plant more than 700 spring bulbs and install
the final key element of the Asian-inspired garden—a
dry pond and Japanese bridge that leads to the East deck
area.
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