Groundbreaking set for garden, Celina Record

Groundbreaking set for Celina Elementary School garden Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Jun 4, 2016 Come this fall, students at Celina Elementary School will have a new place on campus to learn. The public is invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony Monday at the school for what has been dubbed the Garden of Oz. Being constructed in a largely unused grass-courtyard area on campus, the garden will be themed after the literary classic-turned-1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz.” It will include 32 planter beds for growing fruits, vegetables, flowers and other plants, an outdoor classroom complete with a roof, tables and chairs, rainwater collection tanks, a butterfly garden and other features. An entry arch will resemble the fictitious Emerald City, complete with sparkling green spires. A stamped-concrete path will re-create the Yellow Brick Road. A tool shed will be called the “munchkin house.” “We wanted something that was easily recognizable for all ages and something that could [appeal to] boys or girls, and the Oz theme kind of covers all those bases,” explained Jennifer Golden, president of Golden Construction Services in Anna, who is also serving as co-chair of the project being spearheaded by the Celina Garden Club. When recalling Oz, Golden said, “You think of magic and you think of trials and triumphs and all of those sorts of things, and that’s what we’re trying to bring about through the garden. … We wanted to make it a place where the kids would want to go. We’re trying to turn it into a destination versus a place to go pull weeds.” When it’s finished, teachers and students will use the space to conduct lessons and experiments in science, literature, mathematics and other subjects. “There are curriculums out there that are being used across the country in similar gardens,” Golden said. “Anything that the teachers want to include in their lesson plans, there will be room for them to expand into the rest of the garden if they need to.” Celina Elementary School Principal Starla Martin called the garden “an amazing opportunity” for the school’s students and staff. The idea for building a garden at the school was first discussed in 2014 by Celina Garden Club members, according to its president Andrea Greenwald. “It just kind of went from there,” she said. The project, which received approval last month from the Celina ISD Board of Trustees, will cost an estimated $125,000, Golden said. It will be entirely funded and built with donated monies, goods and services. About 40 area companies will lend their services to help construct the garden, which is expected to be completed in mid-October. A nonprofit organization is being established to collect donations for the garden on an ongoing basis, which will be used for future maintenance and other projects. “We need the community to pitch in,” Golden said. “We’ve got so many little items that we need that I don’t have a vendor” to supply, including garden tools. However, the work won’t end once the plants begin to bloom. “I really anticipate us outgrowing the space in the next couple of years if the garden is as popular as I think it will be,” Golden said.