Schaumburg student/senior garden a model of cooperation

Students from Hoover Elementary School in Schaumburg held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, but not for a new capital project on the campus.

Instead, they dedicated their new garden and greenhouse, which already has produced more than 35 pounds of vegetables for the Schaumburg Township Food Pantry.

"If you bought that many vegetables at the store," said second grader Pooja Khatri of Schaumburg, "it would cost nearly $200. Wow!"

The ceremony drew the entire school to surround the garden, as well as Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson, Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 Superintendent Ed Rafferty and District 54 Foundation board members.

"This is a historic day when we can showcase partnerships like this," said Hoover Principal Jake Chung. "It just goes to show you that when groups work together, special things can happen."

The partnerships began in April when master gardeners from Friendship Village in Schaumburg met for a planning session with Hoover students. They talked over what to plant in the garden, located just south of the school, and what amenities they'd add.

"It's much bigger than I thought it was going to be," said sixth grader Aaron Bogner of Schaumburg, who sat in on the planning meetings. "There's a lot more vegetables than I thought."

Their plan really took flight when the District 54 Foundation donated $5,000 for startup costs. Corporate partners including B&R Handyworks, Low-Bo's Handyman, Mydlach Construction and Lowe's Home Improvement contributed parts and labor.

Lowe's garden manager created a plan for the garden area, complete with vegetables, stone paths and some perennial flowers to attract pollinating insects, as well as providing starter plants.

Lowe's also contributed materials for a greenhouse which has allowed students to extend their growing season and also experiment with hydroponics, a system devised by NASA of growing vegetables without soil.

Seniors from Friendship Village returned in June to help plant the seeds and build the fence, and in just two short months, their garden produced a bumper crop.

Hoover second graders are charged with keeping a tally of all the vegetables they harvest. Their clipboard hangs on one of the fenceposts.

"We also record the numbers in our science lab," says second grader Sydney Centeno of Schaumburg. "We make graphs of all the different vegetables harvested and estimate the total weight of our donation."

Annie Finneran, one of the student tour guides, points out the lemon and orange trees growing outside the greenhouse, before she describes the rainwater collection system they have devised to collect run off rainwater.

"It allows us to reserve, conserve and reuse the rainwater," Finneran said.

Larson took a tour of the greenhouse and garden and found himself astonished at the project.

"Wow," he said. "How wonderful to see such an intergenerational display of cooperation - and generosity."