What began as an idea for a Climate Summit presentation in my Climate Project course is now a fully funded grant. Somerville High School was awarded the New Jersey Department of Education Expanding Access to Climate Change Education and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards through Interdisciplinary Education and Community Resilience Projects grant. Next school year, my Somerville High School students will partner with community and higher-ed organizations to research, design, and construct a sprawling rain garden. Much like a Big History class, I was the lead learner. The students were empowered to do the work.
It helps when the student leading the effort is Mateo Aguirre (pictured in front of the future site of the rain garden). There are students in a teacher’s tenure that make them want to be a better teacher. Mateo is one of those students. As a freshman in my World History Origins course, while other students hid behind a Google Meet icon, he shared family vacation photos to Teotihuacan. Cameras turned on. Other students commented. I smiled.
As a senior in my Climate Project course Mateo wove together his personal experiences and his efforts in our school’s Environmental Club to affect real change. He took real civic action. Our town of Somerville has experienced catastrophic flooding during the past two school years. “Once in Twenty Years Storms” have become much more common. With his friends Danny and Van (pictured), Mateo noticed that our high school had been used as an evacuation point. It made them think. They questioned why and came to the conclusion that our 50 year old building was built at an advantageous elevation. Alternatively, many of the apartments in town were built at lower elevations. They were built in the flood plains. Mateo and his classmates began thinking about what responsibility they should take for our building and lack of permeability. Since the school has multiple parking lots, buildings, and turf fields-- what could we do to not just return water to the storm drains but return water to the aquaphor. How can we be part of positive, practical solutions?
The conclusion they came to was to build a rain garden in the courtyard. Not any courtyard garden, but a massive rain garden that would not only alleviate the overworked french drain, but also beautify the courtyard. We partnered with the Somerville Environmental Commision, Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, and with Somerville Mayor Brian Gallagher and his office. Everything they learn in the Fall they will turnkey it in a newsletter (sign up here). I will also be designing a unit that maps out all of these lessons, explains the intentionality around interdisciplinary learning, and utilizes the New Jersey Climate Standards.
The rain garden will create a green space where students can spend extra time with their friends in a safe environment. It will create a green space where students could work with their hands and give back to their community. Finally, it will create a space where Mateo and others with a similar heart for service will leave a legacy.
