YOUNGSTOWN Learning blooms at schools

Teachers will use the gardens for academic lessons.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dominic Dodson bent over and gently touched the pink-and-white bloom of a dianthus.
"My grandma has those," he said.
The sixth-grade Sheridan Elementary School pupil was browsing over the items that were ready to plant in the school's new gardens on Thursday, when a groundbreaking kicked off a "Garden Partners with School Kids" program.
The program partners the city school district with business, community and church groups to create outdoor areas where children can learn about the environment and apply academic skills to a hands-on project.
Troy Mitchell, another a sixth-grader, found some banana pepper plants among the seedlings. His favorites, though, are geraniums.
"We started off small and we're growing big," said Demetrius Lail, a fifth-grader. "We're doing this to help the community be a better place and to help us learn something in science."
Contribution
The Community Relations Committee of the GM Lordstown Assembly Plant is contributing $5,000 to the partnership. Besides Sheridan, other Youngstown city schools involved are Paul C. Bunn Elementary School and East Middle School.
General Motors tends to be labeled as insensitive to the environment, but the company has many programs to encourage environmental awareness, said Assembly Plant Manager Maureen Midgley, who was on hand at Sheridan for Thursday's groundbreaking. GM is involved in wildlife refuges and incubators for organic gardening and has representatives at schools to discuss alternative fuels, added Midgley, who leads GM's Environmental Community Outreach Program.
Other Garden Partner members are the Mahoning County arm of the Ohio State University Extension Service, Mill Creek MetroParks, Martin Luther Lutheran Church of Youngstown and Jubilee Gardens.
Sheridan pupils have started a flower garden surrounding a "Sheridan School" sign. They marked it off with a ring of white yarn held up by wooden Sheridan rulers. Red ties alerted walkers to avoid trampling the buds.
Children also dug up grass in another school yard corner where they plan to create a "Pizza Garden": There, they will plant tomatoes, peppers, onions and oregano. A third group will work with their church partner to refurbish a rock garden on neighboring church grounds.
At Paul C. Bunn school, staff worked with pupils and their families on Tuesday to create their first installment of a garden there, said Samie Winick, a special-education teacher at the school. Thirty-five people pruned trees and planted an herb garden. Principal Maria Pappas said the school has various gardens and plans for an Ohio Bicentennial garden, and many planters are tall enough for children in wheelchairs to access.
Bunn third-grader Allyson Waterbeck joined Pappas and Winick at the Sheridan groundbreaking. On Tuesday, her mother and grandmother had helped her plant at her school.
Besides being part of the Garden Partners program, Bunn also received a 2003 Youth Garden Grant from the Vermont-based National Gardening Association and a grant from the John S. and Doris M. Andrews Trust, through the Men's Garden Club of Youngstown. A 19-member committee has been formed to maintain the gardens throughout the summer.