On May 21, students and teachers from Mineola’s Jackson Avenue School were joined by administrators and board of education members as they celebrated the grand opening of the school’s Learning Garden outdoor classroom.
The Learning Garden is a collaboration between the Art and STEM departments led by art teacher Jeanine Gallina and STEM teacher Christina Castello.
This versatile learning environment includes a pond with goldfish and turtles, elevated garden beds, a vertical garden and a composting area where school food waste will be transformed into rich soil for the flowers and vegetables that the students are planting.
In addition, the space will feature seasonally curated exhibits of student artwork. The current display features hundreds of creative and colorful ceramic creatures that cover the fences, hang from trees and adorn the rocks around the pond.
Furniture for the Learning Garden, including the entrance arch, was designed, constructed, and installed by learners from the Mineola High School “Fab Lab.”
Following the ribbon-cutting, the learners treated their guests to poems inspired by their new outdoor space and gave tours of the artwork and amenities.
