Angela Keller-Herzog is part of the Green Team for Glashan Public School. The team plans to increase green space on school property by replacing the parking lot with turf and replanting dead trees.
Glashan Public School’s dream to make its schoolyard a greener space is in its final planning stages after a community discussion last week.
Parent and student council member Angela Keller-Herzog has spearheaded the initiative since September, and has proposed a strategy to change the prison-like yard into a natural playground oasis.
In her presentation, she unveiled green ideas such as a growing wall, wooden trellises to mark entrances, and updating the existing courtyard with new natural sitting areas.
Keller-Herzog also emphasized the importance of blocking out traffic noise from Kent and Catherine streets, as well as the Queensway, with newly planted trees, and using colourful wall murals to inject life into the otherwise drab yard used by the school’s Grade 7 and 8 students.
“Because Glashan is a middle school, parents are only around for two years, so we want to get this going as soon as possible,” she says of her goal to accomplish the transformation within her time on the parent council committee.
If all goes according to schedule, the school board will approve the proposal and its costs in February and new trees will be planted on the property in the spring.
Glashan principal Jim Taylor says he is fully supportive of the members of Keller-Herzog’s “Green Team” and expressed the hope that their ideas finally come to fruition.
“The idea of thinking big is really important because it gets peoples’ attention and shows that we have a vision,” he says.
The school has been the centre of discussion for months over how to make the property more welcoming for students and easier on the eyes.
“When you look at our yard, it’s tired-looking and really needs a refurbishment,” Taylor says. “It really needs a fresh set of things for kids to do and look at, and just a makeover to make it look like a healthier place.”
The next step is finalizing the plans and getting them approved by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board so the school can start looking for additional funding.
Karen Hawley, the community network co-ordinator for Ecology Ottawa, a grassroots organization working closely with the Glashan community, says the school has already applied for a few grants to help fund its green ambitions and plan to apply for more.
“(Keller-Herzog) has applied to the city’s Schoolyard Tree Planting Grant Program for $10,000 already, so that will move forward for some tree planting this spring and ‘depaving’ in the summer,” says Hawley.
The school has also received help from Evergreen Brick Works, a not-for-profit environmental association partnered with the school board, and has assisted with funds and landscape design advice.
Keller-Herzog hopes to gain further support by getting local businesses and individuals involved in the project.
“This project is really for the school as well as the community, because the schoolyard is open. It’s not one of those that locks up at the end of the day; everyone can use it after school hours,” she says.