Regional District Brings Green Growing to Students

Both high schools in the West Morris Regional district—West Morris Central and West Morris Mendham—have spent the summer launching a special services project that is aimed to teach students about growing their own crops in an eco-friendly way.

West Morris Mendham teachers Janice Dimiceli and Nancy Ellis presented Mendham’s “Sustainability Center of Excellence”—a Geodesic Dome greenhouse designed for growing food and other crops, year-round—to the West Morris Regional Board of Education as part of its meeting on Aug. 23.

The idea for the greenhouses initially came about when the district received extra funding from the American Recovery and Re-Investment Act, according to David Leigh, the Director of Special Services for the West Morris Regional district.

“They recommended to invest (the funding) in projects that would give (the district) long-term gain and benefit. So, I was looking for good ideas. You can do the easy ones, but good ideas, creativity and things that will benefit our schools longer-term, that’s really what I was looking for,” said Leigh. “The notion was, ‘Could we build a greenhouse, research it, and bring a great proposal?’ and that’s what they did.”

The Geodesic Domes—which are completely solar-powered, will use resources such as for growing purposes, and each include a water tank and insulation to regulate their inside conditions, year-round—were constructed by District Facilities Manager Glenn Miller and his crew, who were able to build the structures with very little consultation.

For Dimiceli, a special education teacher, the opportunity to have her students take an alternative, hands-on approach to learning is very exciting.

“For me, being a special ed instructor, I think it’s really important for children to have different ways to learn,” said Dimiceli. “I find that children with special needs learn really well hands-on. That was my initiative to try to get something like this involved in the BSP program where I work.”

Access to the greenhouses is not only limited to children with special needs, however. Dimiceli confirmed on Monday night that Theory of Knowledge students completing their community service hours, as well as non-special ed students, have all volunteered their time across the district to make the greenhouses into a reality.

For Dimiceli, the hope is that the district will eventually base curriculum partially around student projects that can take place in the greenhouse.

“A lot of times, we do (the seeding) upstairs in our classrooms,” said Dimiceli. “Now, we can bring the class down, do the seeding right together in the center, keep them here, acclimate them, and then put them in the garden.”

This project isn’t the first agricultural undertaking throughout the district, though. Ellis, who has served as Mendham’s Culinary Arts teacher for the past 19 years, started an organic garden at the school three years ago to provide an enriched experience for her students.

“I started this garden, because I became aware of a national movement to encourage people to eat more locally and to keep your footprint for food smaller,” said Ellis. “Because I used to be a chef and teach culinary arts, I wanted to be able to provide the kids with the freshest ingredients possible, and also to teach them where their food comes from, because a lot of times, they don’t know.

“My idea was to have the garden grow the food, teach the concepts of gardening—not just putting seeds in the ground and seeing what happens, but other things, like composting, soil fertility, all those things that really matter when you’re trying to grow your own food,” continued Ellis.

Ellis, however, plans to use the weather-proof greenhouse at West Morris Mendham for her classes, realizing that harsh New Jersey winters make for inhospitable crop-growing conditions.

“The obvious shortfall of having a garden is having a growing season. Many things come to maturity in the summer when I don’t have the students, so having the greenhouse will really provide an opportunity for me and the students to have year-round, fresh produce,” said Ellis. “Initially, it was working out that only some students were doing only the seeding and planting, while all the other students were doing the harvesting. This way, they can be involved in the whole process, from beginning to end.”

West Morris Central’s Geodesic Dome has already taken off through the school’s extended school year program. Under the direction of Central faculty members Melissa Stern and Dave Ehasz, Leigh claims that students in Central’s greenhouse has already grown “a ton” of food.

No matter the school, however, the project plans to be beneficial for all involved throughout the district.

“It’s really brought kids from all ranges of academic ability together, and they’ve volunteered and have been wonderful in setting this up,” said Dimiceli.