Nature Center Photo Gallery II
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the Nature Center to learn more about our project!

More Money = More Garden Space ... Spring 2001

The Nature Center garden was expanded in 2001 to include a larger pond, new planting areas, and a picket fence thanks to a Schoolyard Habitat grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and generous donations from the school and community. Students, staff, and community members pitched in their green thumbs throughout the month of May and early June to make our garden bigger and better than ever! 

Water Wonderland
Josh Irons, an Eagle Scout candidate, and his fellow Boy Scouts created a large water garden to replace the small one from our first year. The new pond is four times the size of the old one and will be home to a wide variety of aquatic plants and animals.

Step 1:
After removing the fish and plants from the old pond, the Boy Scouts used a bit of muscle power to clear the area and dig a bigger pond!
Step 2:
A layer of old carpeting was added to help protect the liner.
Step 3:
Once the liner was in place, Josh started adding water to fill the pond and check for leaks.

Step 4:
Two weeks later, rock, plants, and a few fish were added to complete the pond. Thanks to Kevin Irons for his additions of new plants and fish!

Garden Expansion
HJHS Science Club members and their parents volunteered their time and muscles to expand the garden around the patio area to provide more room for new plants.The area around the patio was targeted for our new garden space - almost doubling the planting area! Due to rain on our first work day, we had to delay cutting the sod and focused our efforts on weeding the old garden area and adding new plants.

During our second and third work days, Chuck Kellogg, a local Master Gardener, worked with the students to remove the sod from the new garden area and add manure and peat moss to the soil. After the initial preparations were done and new plants were added, the garden welcomed a layer of mulch and newspaper to prevent an overabundance of weeds.

While the Potts family fixed us hamburgers and hot dogs donated by Oney's Food Store in Havana, the helping hands added rock to finish the walkway areas of the garden and a few boys went "fishing" in the tank to find our fish and put them in the new pond.


After the work in the garden was done, our fearless fence builders, Sandy Showalter, David Trimpe, and Tony Trimpe, donated their time and expertise to add the picket fence to the Nature Center. Thanks to Jim and Brock Brooks and Stelter-Hofreiter for their help in putting in all the posts!

Year after year ... Blooming in 2002 & beyond

During each spring junior high Science Club members and parents prepare the garden for another season of blooms! Students pull weeds and volunteer plants that seemed to spread like crazy before adding annuals and new varieties of perennials. The planting areas are covered with another layer of newspaper and mulch to prevent those nasty weeds! Special thanks to Richardson Tree Service for the donation of wood mulch!

During the spring of 2004, junior high and elementary students will have the opportunity to grow plants for local refuges and nature preserves as well as the Nature Center garden thanks to an Illinois Department of Natural Resources ENTICE grant funded by the Illinois Conservation Foundation through a generous gift from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation. Grant funds will be used to purchase two classroom growlabs and to support a series field trips to local nature areas to monitor seasonal changes and investigate the diversity of our local community.


Go to Photo Gallery III

A special thank you to all of our Helping Hands who made the Nature Center a "blooming" success!  

If you have any questions about the Nature Center project, please contact
Mrs. Tracy Trimpe, project coordinator!