Newark creates land lab and community garden

  • 2014-05-28
Newark's Lincoln Junior High School used to stand on East Main Street, but all that's there now is an empty field. The sight saddened Carol Floyd, who used to teach at Lincoln, but according to a May 22nd article, the field is being put to good use.

When Floyd – who is now a Newark city councilwoman – drove by the site recently, she saw students from Newark High School working to turn the disused land into a spot for students to learn via gardening.

Floyd stopped to talk to the students and let them know she's proud of their efforts. The students are from Newark High's School Within a School program, and they're working to revitalize the property, which is now called the ‘Lincoln Land Lab and Outdoor Center’.

The Lindorf Family Foundation provided a $20,000 grant so a raised bed and fenced garden that students and teachers will maintain could be built. The school hopes that come next spring, the garden will be opened to Newark residents, who will apply for a plot and share what they know about gardening with the students.

Doug Ute, school superintendent, said he got the idea from the success of the 2012-2013 School Within a School effort, which allowed students to work with a number of different hands-on projects.

Advisers could consider working with a banner printing company to create flags suitable for use outdoors. They could identify the property, and within it, the various plants growing there.