Fordson Works Toward Horticulture Program, Courtyard Classroom

Everything is turning green at –and not just because it’s springtime.

This month alone, the school had a triple-whammy: Fordson was recognized as achieving Evergreen School status by the Michigan Green Schools program, it announced its horticulture class to debut next year and it hosted a with the Dearborn Sustainability Coalition on May 16.

But the plans don’t stop there, as evidenced by presentations at the roundtable earlier this week.

The ultimate goal, said recycling coordinator and staff adviser to the Fordson Environmental Club Phil Seymour, is to build a curriculum around agricultural science classes that would tie into the opening of a fully functional courtyard garden and farm at the school.

“It takes a while to build a curriculum around something like that,” said Seymour, who also teaches math at the school.

But the school has proved to be up to the task.

Seymour stepped aboard the three-year-old Environmental Club late last year after the school learned that it was close to receiving the 20 points necessary to achieving “green” status, which includes implementing recycling, energy efficiency, garden projects and more.

Over the past six months, with the help of Fordson’s City Beautiful Committee, the school built up its green efforts, including placing recycling bins throughout the building and reopening the school’s greenhouse.

“Just last week, two of our (committee members) were sent over to Wayne RESA for the recognition ceremony where we heard we had received one of the highest honors a high school can get, which is the Evergreen Status,” said ninth-grade Assistant Principal Chadi Farhat. “The committee did a fabulous job of engaging not only the student population, but the staff and the community here.”

The committee also explored the curriculum at Fordson, resulting in the upcoming horticulture class, which will give students hands-on experience with plants, farming and the environment.

But the biggest goal–one that will tie together all of the school’s efforts–is the courtyard garden.

As all the other efforts came together, members of the various environmental committees at the school approached Maureen McIlrath, founder of the , which runs a community farm located behind .

“When we started this journey, we became aware of all the good work that Maureen is doing in the community; the projects she’s doing around the city,” Farhat said. “We reached out for her and she generously … met with us, was very supportive and we started sharing some ideas about what it is we’re doing here at Fordson. And all of a sudden, we’re talking about creating a sustainable courtyard here at Fordson.”

The project is now in the design and funding stages. The school hired Livonia-based architect Rajai Musleh, who came up with the concept for the courtyard–including an outdoor classroom, fruit and vegetable garden, sitting area, fountain and a topiary of the Fordson “F.”

The outdoor classroom will include stadium-style seating facing what could be an outdoor chalkboard underneath a terrace. And it would serve multiple purposes, Musleh explained.

“The original concept for the classroom was to have a little terraced area,” he said. “Of course, I wanted to utilize the water I capture from (the raised seating), so we’d have to have some type of drainage system. This would be a great way to utilize the fill we have to excavate, to use it on this, and to create a drainage sector to collect more water. So it’s kind of like three birds with one stone.”

But the project can move no further without funding.

McIlrath said she has written several grants for the project, but has yet to receive an answer on any. And meanwhile, the school is searching for any funding or sponsorship help they can get to make the courtyard a reality.

“The committees, the staff and students have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time,” Farhat said. “We hope to continue the progress.”