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Left, Stephanie
Elwood, SU Ag Center, oversees Washington Career and Technical Education Center
students as they plant flowers along Washington’s Main Street. Left-right: Logan
Billeaudeau, Darren Thomas, Colby Duplechain and Dustin Ellis. / Freddie
Herpin, Daily World
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Baton Rouge, LA - Southern University Ag Center is
collaborating with the Washington School Board and Washington Career &
Technical Education Center on a Joint garden project to beautify the town of
Washington in Louisiana. Now, 14 large, square cypress planters, each about four
feet wide, three feet tall, and filled with flowering plants and shrubs, line
Washington’s main business district. The Washington Career and Technical
Education Center students spent the week of May 20, 2014 filling the planters
with soil and scores of plants they had grown themselves as part of the
beautification effort.
“By summer, these will
be popping,” said Stephanie Elwood, an extension associate with Southern
University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
“We have roses,
gardenias, witch hazel and many others,” Elwood said.
Although the historic town, which depends on tourism, will
benefit, WCTEC pro-start teacher Candy Palumbo said it is benefiting the school
and its students as well. She said many of the businesses in town don’t even
know WCTEC exists.
“This is a chance to engage the business community and show
them we are willing to work with the town,” Palumbo said. “This will help them
realize there is a local treasure in their backyard they may not be aware of.”
The project is the brainchild of Elwood, who does most of her
teaching in Baton Rouge. But she and her husband have a farm in the nearby
Plaisance community.
“I have ties to this community and wanted to make it look
nice,” said Elwood, who headed up an eight-week gardening program at WCTEC this
past semester.
Part of that program involved converting an unused storage
area “into a lovely greenhouse.”
Palumbo said the greenhouse was initially intended to grow
herbs and vegetables for the school’s culinary program, but adding flowers was
just a natural extension. Keeping up the planters will also become a part of
that program.
The project also has generated unexpected
side benefits — working in the garden is relaxing and helps relieve stress for
many of the students; improving grades and self-esteem in some.
Elwood said that is something she has
noticed in her own teaching career.
“I’ve taught hundreds of kids. They
often complain and object, but I’ve yet to come across a kid who puts his hands
into soil and doesn’t like it,” Elwood said.
The students are marketing the products
of the greenhouse at the local farmers market and other venues.
“They are learning customer-service
skills that will be of value when they transition from school to work,” Palumbo
said.
Elwood praised Mayor Joseph Pitre and a
host of volunteers and others who helped make the project possible.
Pitre had a limited budget for
beautification but agreed to give the program a try; area businessman Pat
Fontenot donated the aged cypress that Washington Alderman Krandall Pijou and
school board employee Jack Caine assembled with the help of the students; the
St. Landry Parish Waste Disposal District donated the soil.
“This is a real coalition,” agreed
Palumbo. “Everyone has taken a small part. Now all the puzzle pieces are coming
together.”
The full story is available on the Daily
World site under the heading “Students Beautify Downtown Washington.”
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Contact:
Bridget Udoh
(225) 771-5714
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