While the 2019-20 school year may have been an unconventional academic year for Reading High School (RHS), it has been a year of green changes. During this time, the school created plans to transform its overgrown and underused interior courtyard into a welcoming outdoor classroom and natural refuge. Students and teachers of a “green team” led these efforts. Their hard work paid off: RHS became the first school in Berks County, PA to become a certified National Wildlife Federation Eco School, achieving the bronze award for its “schoolyard habitat” improvements.
Three years ago, RHS received funding through the Delaware County Waste Authority with oversight by the Berks County Conservation District to green the school. Science teacher and project leader, Jeannine Michel, collaborated with committed teachers, students and Mary Ann Boyer of Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultant, to form a Green Team to direct and plan next steps. The Green Team also worked with local community partners from Habitat for Humanity, Berks County Conservation District, Structure Green, and The City of Reading, among others, in the initial planning phases. This past school year, RHS received an Environmental Education mini grant from PA Department of Environmental Protection and a grant from Lowes to help cover materials needed to transform the courtyard.
Teachers Jeannine Michel (seated) and Elaine Cooke (standing) and Green Team members review Structure Green’s landscaping plans for the future courtyard.
Transforming the Courtyard: From Inhabitable to a Welcoming Space
The goal of the project was simple: renovate the spacious interior courtyard into a welcoming outdoor classroom. Yet the steps to complete this goal were far from straightforward.
The courtyard was overgrown with invasive plants; the existing pond needed some TLC, and trash littered the landscape. Ms Michel’s science classroom overlooked the courtyard. “Nobody wanted to teach out there -- let alone even enter the courtyard,” she noted.
Despite these obstacles, the Green Team envisioned something else. Meeting monthly, the Team imagined a courtyard with an outdoor classroom, student-created art murals, a pollinator garden to attract native birds and insects, raised garden beds, pond improvements, bird houses, and a compost bin.
The courtyard in early Fall 2019, filled with invasive species, before habitat improvements were made.
With this vision in place, the Green Team organized an all-school event, “The Green Between Event,” in April 2019 to spark broader school-wide interest in the project and engage community partners. Habitat for Humanity donated a custom-made bench and presented it to the School, while Berk County Conservation District donated a rain barrel. Other organizations like Berks Nature, Penn State Extension, and Reading Area Water Authority were some of the dozen partners who provided hands-on activities to engage with a focus on environmental education. Approximately 300 students attended this event. The faculty and students were excited about the courtyard transformation.
Principal Turman thanks Habitat for Humanity for their custom designed bench with planters for the courtyard at the School’s “Green Between Event.”
In order to become certified as a bronze level Eco-School through the National Wildlife Federation’s program, the Green Team had to achieve a number of steps, including conducting an outdoor audit of the courtyard area, creating an action plan, connecting lessons to the curriculum, and engaging the community.
An important step included student engagement in the project. Students presented a project progress report to the school board. They also created an Eco-Code to guide how the student body would use and appreciate the courtyard and created a bulletin board to explain their process.
Reading High school students created a bulletin board to showcase their new status as an Eco School (shown here: Mary Ann Boyer, Jeannine Michel, RHS Eco Club Students, Shannon Ruane, and Ann Sellers of Structure Green)
Momentum for the project continued as physical changes began to take shape in the courtyard. Unused roof tiles were upcycled to use as a “hardscaped” area for the outdoor classroom.
The Green Team planned a “Built It Event” during MLK Day in January where students and adults assembled a compost bin and vertical garden wall out of recycled wooden pallets, built raised garden beds, and cleaned up the courtyard.
With the overwhelming positive response to the Build It Event, the Green Team’s vision became a reality. “I think this was the moment we could really see what we were doing,” noted Jeannine Michel. “And especially for the students, they could see the physical transformation taking place.”
This project also relied on a partnership between RHS and the Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center. RMCTC students and their teacher, Mark Holtzman, began to build benches and tables for the outdoor classroom. Plans were moving forward until the corona virus struck -- putting a stop to the furniture, installation of a pollinator garden and garden beds -- when the school closed in mid-March.
“The momentum for this project had to go on a grinding halt,” adds Marcie Promutico of the Facilities Department. “There’s been so much excitement and progress made, we plan to pick up where we left off once school resumes.”
In spite of the school closure, the future looks bright and green for Reading High School. With the courtyard renovated, garden beds and furniture ready to be installed, Michel is hopeful that when students return, they can finish their courtyard plans and hold outdoor classes.
Current progress on the courtyard: the courtyard’s hardscaped area using repurposed roof tiles is ready for classroom seating and tables.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to school and finishing up what we started,” notes Michel. “I hope the transformation in the courtyard will inspire students to connect to nature and become stewards of the environment.”
“Once we are back at school,” Michel adds, “Teaching outside in this space will be worth the wait.”
Written by Shannon Ruane, Sustainability Intern at Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants.
