Environmentalists say if you want to save the Earth, you should start in your own back yard. Two weeks ago, 365 students from pre-kindergarten to second grade did just that by flooding into the Webster School’s Reading Garden on Earth Day 2010 to plant hundreds of purple pansies.
The initiative, spearheaded by self-described community volunteer and Weehawken resident Lisa Zentner, taught the kids the importance of Mother Nature while beautifying the local park.
Each student from the 22 classes at Webster School planted a flower, while volunteers from the Weehawken Public Library were on hand to read to the kids.
“We had Mother Nature on our side that day.” – Lisa Zentner
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Weehawken native and actor Charles Walters, who has regularly volunteered to read stories to the students at Webster for the past 10 years, really got into character while reading his book to the kids this year, Zentner said.
“He’s an amazing guy and because he’s an actor he uses the voices and [sound effects] like thunder and whispers,” Zentner said. “The children just adore him.”
Another actor and parent, Anne Sayre, was in character as well. “I choose Anne to be [nursery rhyme character] Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and she greeted the kids at the gate and asked them to help her garden grow,” Zentner said.
Students enjoy it
The project, which started at 8:30 a.m. and finished around 2:15 p.m., was a big hit with the students.
Second grader Shayla Larson said she enjoyed being outside. “I had a lot of fun,” she said. “My friend Alex actually found a worm. That was my favorite part.”
For Shayla, who lives within easy walking distance to the park, the quite area set aside for reading is really helpful. “I like being in the park because sometimes I do my homework there, and because it’s really beautiful and light,” she said.
Help from the community
This year marked the second year the reading garden was open to the public and the second time a planting took place in the Reading Garden.
“To be honest, I don’t have a child in Webster anymore,” Zentner said. “But I’ve been involved with having the park built, it’s like my baby.”
Volunteers made the day possible, Zentner said, along with the mayor and the Township Council, who paid for the entire event, including all of the 365 pansies, which cost less than $150 in total.
“The kids could see when they were walking down to the park that something was going on and that there was going to be excitement,” she said. “Then when they walked past the park later, they pointed out to their families which flowers were theirs. They were really, really proud.”
In all, the project had 16 volunteers who helped the kids plant the flowers, read books, and kept the kids relatively clean.
“They love getting dirty,” Zentner said. “We couldn’t let them water the flowers because they would have been full of mud.”
But it turned out that the flowers didn’t need water from a hose. According to Zentner, the weather was a huge help to the Earth Day flower planting.
“It rained right after they were done,” she said. “We had Mother Nature on our side that day.”
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com