AMHERST — A new garden that will serve as an outdoor learning space at Wildwood Elementary School was recently built with assistance from students at the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts.
On a recent Saturday morning, kindergarten students, families and teachers took part in the capstone project for five UMass seniors in the Design Studio VI course taught by Erika Zekos.
The work included building a series of raised beds and benches, with the architecture department providing construction supplies and soil coming from Wagner Wood.
Before the project began, Zekos reached out to Leila Tunnell, the garden educator for Amherst schools, and Jennifer Reese, science specialist and garden coordinator, to find a way for her students to meet the mission of the School Garden Program, which aims to help children build meaningful connections with the natural world through engaging, interdisciplinary activities in the garden and in the classroom.
The architecture students conducted research into public interest design strategies, learned about human centered design and public engagement methodologies. They also did research to understand the social and environmental context of the town’s public schools, before soliciting drawings from kindergartners showing what the gardens should look like, learning about where they should be located on the site and interviewing principal Nick Yaffe and head custodian Joe Russavage.
Before finalizing the design, the UMass students shared their ideas and received feedback from the kindergartners.
Wildwood kindergarten teacher Lisa Poirier said in a statement she was impressed with the work of the UMass students. “They listened to the kindergartners’ ideas and designed a garden area that is beautiful, practical and accessible,” Poirier said.