Hinks Elementary garden sprouting into a dream come true
News Photos by Darby Hinkley Hinks Elementary students gather after school on May 20 to help with the new garden on the school’s property. Pictured in back from left to right are Parker Hall, 8, and Nolan Frantz, 8. In front from left to right are Henry Black, 8, Ethan Kowalski, 9, Jacquelyn Frantz, 9, teacher and gardener Nicolle Wieschowski, and Isla Black, 6.
From left, Henry Black carries a bucket full of mulch from the pile to one of the raised garden beds, while Nolan Frantz shovels mulch into his bucket.
News Photos by Darby Hinkley Hinks Elementary students gather after school on May 20 to help with the new garden on the school’s property. Pictured in back from left to right are Parker Hall, 8, and Nolan Frantz, 8. In front from left to right are Henry Black, 8, Ethan Kowalski, 9, Jacquelyn Frantz, 9, teacher and gardener Nicolle Wieschowski, and Isla Black, 6.
From left, Henry Black carries a bucket full of mulch from the pile to one of the raised garden beds, while Nolan Frantz shovels mulch into his bucket.
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ALPENA -- What used to be an empty field is now an eye-catching fenced-in garden on Hinks Elementary School property north of Alpena.
The garden is budding now, thanks to the vision of third-grade teacher Nicolle Wieschowski, and the combined effort of teachers, students, volunteers and local contractors who donated time and supplies.
"It started in my head, a few years back," Wieschowski said. "I love gardening -- it's a passion of mine"
"She has a lot of plants, and we recycle in the classroom," said one of her students, Jacquelyn Frantz, 9.
"So, one day I'm in my own garden, and I'm gardening, and I'm thinking about, just, the peace it brings me," Wieschowski said. "And the celebration, when you put a seed in the ground, and you are then harvesting a watermelon, and how good that feels."
Teaching is her other passion.
"I said, 'Why can't I bring these two together? Why can't I show the kids what this feels like? What it feels like to nurture a plant, take care of it, and then be able to eat what you grew yourself,'" she said.
The idea came to her in 2019, and she started getting the wheels in motion on the project.
"So I reached out to Home Depot in Alpena, and I applied for a grant," Wieschowski noted. "They gave us enough money to buy what you see here. The money bought the materials for the fence, the raised beds and the soil that you see here now."
A large wooden and metal wire fence surrounds an area with a weed barrier laid down to prevent grass growth, covered in mulch with 14 4×8-foot wooden raised rectangular beds filled with soil. Each bed features different types of plants.
She reached out to Cutting Edge Construction owned by Josh Wieschowski, who built the fence as an in-kind donation.
"The APS maintenance crew came and spent time here and assembled the beds," she added.
She put the black fabric weed barrier down, which was purchased by the Hinks Elementary Parent Advisory Council (PAC).
"It was a super collaborative effort, lots of people coming together," Wieschowski said. "Everybody's just volunteering."
She said Hinks Elementary students helped fill the beds with soil and lay down the mulch.
"The kids have been hauling buckets to fill these," she said.
One side of the garden is the produce side, featuring fruits and vegetables, and the other will be the pollinator side, featuring flowers.
"On that side of the garden, we're going to be putting a pathway, and some pollinator-friendly perennials in," Wieschowski said. "So then, the kids are going to be able to learn the balance of the ecosystem. It'll really tie into some science curriculum there."
Seedlings were waiting in the Hinks greenhouse for their turn to go into the fresh soil.
Wieschowski explained that she teaches third grade, but it's a whole school garden.
"This is the school's community garden," she said. "So, every class has beds, and it'll be able to tie into science curriculum."
Ultimately, she would like the garden to yield enough produce to be able to have a little Hinks market.
"That's my eventual plan, so then you're tying into economics as well," she said. "Then they can make journals about their plant, which is then English content. If we do the market, then we're bringing in math. And social studies with the economics of supply and demand, and they'll be developing social skills at the market, selling it."
She added that is her hopeful dream, which will all depend on how the plants end up doing.
Another benefit of the garden is offering a healthy hobby to keep kids balanced.
"Especially now, because the pandemic did hit, there's a lot of concern for kids' emotional health now," she said. "And gardening, connecting to nature, nurturing things, caring for things, having that purpose, and the miracle of life, this is my sanctuary. This is my therapy, when I garden."
She said it could help children center themselves and have better mental health.
"The concern of trauma throughout" the pandemic, "this is kind of an outlet for that, too," she added.
She said getting kids outside learning hands-on about gardening is a valuable skill.
"You can learn so much this way," she said. "And the teamwork they are doing together is important, too."
Wieschowski said she appreciates all the volunteering and collaboration that has brought this project to fruition, and she looks forward to continued success with the community garden.
She has been gardening for about six years.
"It's just something I never get tired of," she said. "It is extremely exhilarating and inspiring to see it coming to this, and having the kids be excited about it … It is a dream. It's what I dreamed, and it's coming out exactly as I pictured it."