GCHS Has Plans For Courtyard

Betsy Maryott looks out her classroom window overlooking the courtyard at Glenwood Community High School and she doesn’t see a green space.

At least, not a true green space.

So Maryott, a science teacher at the high school, decided to do something about it. For years she’s bandied about the idea of better utilizing the courtyard at the high school.

Her idea?

A green-space-meets-classroom-space surrounded by native Iowa plants in a landscape conducive to close interaction between students, teachers and the environment. Her vision includes a semi-circular slab of classroom space just outside the high school media center’s windows. To the north, she plans for a more wide-open area where “students can just come out and use the space.” The courtyard would have art and science space with classroom seating, prep areas and studio areas. She imagines any and all classes utilizing the space.

“I’d been thinking about this for years and we have a new art teacher this year who would really like to have the chance to have his students sketch or draw something that isn’t dead,” Maryott said. Maryott has partnered with high school art teacher, Jeff Yoachim, to spearhead the project. “He wanted a lively outdoor space for his projects and we got together and decided, let’s get a classroom everyone can use out here.”

There was just one problem.

While the school board gave Maryott their blessing to proceed with the project, there’s no district funding available.

The project will have to be paid for entirely by private money and donations.

That hasn’t swayed Maryott.

“I’ve always wanted to do something with the space, so we’re going to go after some grants to see if we can’t do something with it,” she said. “I enjoy writing grants and seeking funding for things.”

Last year, Maryott was one of five winners from Iowa in the 2014 Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest, a national competition created to promote innovative ways to teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The prize included more than $20,000 worth of new technology for the school.

For the outdoor classroom, Maryott plans to pursue grants from Lowe’s Home Improvement’s Toolbox for Education program, Monsanto, the Mills County Master Gardeners and the Greater Omaha Armed Forces. The American Dermatologists Association has also expressed interest in paying for sun shades over the classroom area.

A pair of local landscapers were out giving bids last week. Maryott isn’t sure on a budget figure but she does consider both the process and the funding to be “multi-year projects.” The plan, she added, is to “build as the money comes in.”

First up is laying the concrete slabs and re-arranging some of the existing sprinkler systems, and then getting down a fertile mulch bed for plantings, she said.

“As funding becomes available, either through donations or partnerships, we’ll add the plants and the shrubs and the trees to the landscape,” she said. “We’re planning a five-year process.”

The applications of the outdoor classroom and the teaching opportunities are endless.

“There are all kinds of possibilities,” she said. “This space is totally not used. The students can’t even walk through it to get from one side (of the building) to the other. The students are really excited about this. They’ve asked me,

‘You mean we’re actually going to use that space?’ Absolutely, I told them. We have to have something out there that’s usable.”

She can envision a weather station being placed in the courtyard for science classes, an herb garden for family and consumer science classes, an English class talking about a book or just students coming out enjoying the weather and ag classes using the space to get a closer look at annuals and perennials.

“I’m a little selfish in that I can see a ton of science applications but I really want the whole school to appreciate the space out here,” she said. “It’s just so underutilized. We have trees that aren’t correct for the environment and aren’t growing. There’s just nothing out there.”

The environmental makeup of the courtyard area isn’t typical “Iowa front yard,” she said. The unique environment allows for a wide range of plantings.

“There are areas that are excessively hot because of the reflection off the brick and there are areas that are extremely cold because they don’t get sun at all. This is an interesting microclimate.”

Maryott knows much will depend on funding. She’s hopeful, once bids have come in, that the district will provide some money for the project. But she isn’t counting on it.

“We’re looking at a lot of grants,” she said. “Maybe the district could do some match funding. With everything going on in the district and the new gym, there’s not a lot of money left over for this type of project. We’re hoping for some grants.”

The plan is to have the hard surfaces installed this summer and perhaps begin some plantings this fall. Maryott has raised about $1,500 toward the project from a small grant and some donations.

“I’m hoping we can get approval and then the hardscapes in and the rest (of the money) will come pretty easy,” she said. “Glenwood has always supported things here at the high school and I think people will support this.”