Rain garden caps 'green' efforts at Henry Clay
Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, May 27, 2010
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In a ceremonial opening of Henry Clay's new rain garden, Go Green Club leaders Kam Farley and Rachel Whiteheart installed the final drainage pipe. Landscaper John Cobb was instrumental in helping students design and build the rain garden.
Henry Clay High School officially marked the completion of a 500-square-foot rain garden with a “garden party” at the site, adjacent to the student parking lot and softball field.
Senior Rachel Whiteheart, president of the Go Green Club, thanked retired environmental engineer Shelby Jett and landscaper John Cobb for their tireless, unselfish assistance in the year-long project.
“They were instrumental in the planning,” she said at the May 27 dedication and reception.
Rain gardens capture rainwater from downspouts or impermeable asphalt and allow it time to soak into the ground instead of running off into the storm-water system and nearby creeks. Rain gardens can improve water quality, help prevent flooding and serve as excellent teaching tools.
The students’ first effort, on the Fontaine Road side of the building, had limited success – the site received too much runoff from the roof, it was built on a hill, and the water’s velocity overwhelmed the rain garden.
Rachel noted that at the new site, the soil is more porous and erosion is not as problematic.
Going forward, students will need to routinely remove weeds and litter, re-mulch the garden and keep an eye on the health of the plants.
“They’ve got a chart that guides them through that process,” Jett said.
Superintendent Stu Silberman praised the students for their hard work and for taking the lead in sustainability efforts, saying, “This has been a phenomenal team effort.”
The project required the commitment of dozens of students, teachers, Henry Clay staffers, school district employees and community consultants, including the Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance. The after-school dedication provided an opportunity to publicly thank them all.
The rain garden was constructed in large part by the Go Green Club in Henry Clay’s successful quest to become the first high school designated as a model site for the Kentucky Green & Healthy Schools program.
Other major projects that students took on this school year included:
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Mentoring kids at Athens-Chilesburg Elementary, a feeder school;
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Landscaping, mulching around shrubs and planting more than 250 perennial bulbs;
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Starting a vermicompost for students and faculty to contribute food scraps and three more vermicomposts used in classrooms;
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Building and painting two rain barrels;
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Hosting its second annual Health, Safety and Energy Expo, which featured local sustainability advocate Jim Embry and representatives from Bluegrass PRIDE, the Lexington Farmers Market, Kentucky Utilities, Good Food Coop and the county Health Department; and
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Taking the Energy Star pledge to save energy and fight climate change, and handing out energy conservation stickers.
“The Go Green Club has used the Kentucky Green & Healthy Schools program to capitalize on the swell of enthusiasm and excitement in our student body and used the well-designed program to empower students to channel their collective efforts to a common goal,” said club sponsor Tresine Logsdon, a biology and environmental science teacher.
“Flags, banners, plaques and certificates are visual reminders to current and future students that their efforts are acknowledged and valued. But perhaps more importantly, they attract questions and interest from incoming students.”
Rachel agreed, saying, “There’s a good environmental outlook here at Henry Clay that will sustain these projects.”