Eco-Walk & Outdoor Classroom in Sag Harbor, NY
In Sam Panton’s native country, the United Kingdom, when the community school lawn needed to be cut, a few of the local Dads got together on a Saturday, lawnmowers in tow, and cut the grass together. It was this tradition that inspired Sam, Lead Designer of Terra Design Studio, to create the concept for the newly proposed “Eco-Walk” at Sag Harbor Elementary School. The finished product will be a self-sustaining educational garden walkway with native landscaping, that will be built solely by community labor, and most importantly, financed by private donations. Call our office in Sag Harbor, NY, to make a tax-deductible contribution to this worthwhile project.
Location
The proposed Eco-Walk will fill in all the unused land behind the Sag Harbor Elementary School surrounding the tennis courts and current storage container, eventually extending out to the sidewalk and across the street to Pierson High School. The connecting of the schools is meant to serve as a reminder of the unity of our community, and the connected path that all the children of our community will follow.
The Eco-Walk will creatively wrap around and branch out from the cornerstone of the project, the existing greenhouse, which was originally built by the exceptional efforts of Sag Harbor Elementary’s Science Teacher, Mrs. Kryn Olson.
Vision
The Eco-Walk will incorporate features such as an outdoor classroom, an outdoor lunch area, an edible garden, and different landscape zones to educate students as to local flora and fauna of Sag Harbor, NY. Science lessons will be able to utilize the different landscapes to illustrate the natural history of our land, from glacial erratic to tidal wetlands, to dune-scape. The Eco-Walk also includes a plan to convert the existing storage container into a self-sustaining classroom, powered by photovoltaic solar panels.
Purpose
The low maintenance, completely native garden will show what a community can do when it works together: a public space created by the community, for the children of the community. Ed Bruehl, another Sag Harbor, NY, Elementary School parent, has generously taken the reins as project organizer and fund raising coordinator. He is currently in the process of raising awareness and gathering generous offers from local designers, builders, and contractors to get the work done, either at cost or no cost.
Timeline
In conclusion, everyone involved feels confident that once Terra Design Studio’s plan is refined by the core group and shared with the Board of Educators, PTA, and greater Sag Harbor, NY, community, we will acquire adequate financial donations from kind citizens whose goal is seeing this plan fully implemented in time for the "Back to School" Fall season.