Garden shed at manchester has bright new look - By Elizabeth Richards

The gardening shed at Manchester School has a new look, thanks to a group of students who participate in the REACH Art program at the school. The shed now sports a colorful design of grass, flowers, vines and butterflies. The project was proposed, planned and executed by the students. 

Fourth grade teacher Stacey Sanborn said that the project began last April when planning the school’s community day. There had been gardening projects for a couple of years, and they began to realize that if everyone planted seedlings, there wouldn’t be room to use all the plants. They had received a grant to purchase the shed, and wanted to make it look nice. “It was a great way to get more kids involved,” she said. 

 The REACH students planned the design on paper, and then sketched it onto the white shed, which had been primed and painted by three classrooms involved with the gardening project. Finally, they painted in the designs using acrylic paint. The PTA provided a grant for the paint, said Sanborn.

The REACH Art program allows students extra art opportunities on Friday afternoons during their lunch and recess time. “The REACH program is basically for extra art time for students that are showing an extra ability and interest,” said art specialist Angelika Blanchard. She said she looks at their work, including extra credit work, and sees interest, then invites students to participate. She said she ends up with about 20 kids, ten each from the fourth and fifth grades, by the end of the year. This is the second year for the program at Manchester School. 

Her role, said Blanchard, is to give the students space and supplies. “They have to come up with the idea on paper, communicate that and then I give them the materials,” she said. “I might give them some suggestions, but I basically want them to think for themselves,” she added. Sometimes the group works on a project together as well, such as the creation of a shoestring puppet for this year’s art show, which will open on Cinco de Mayo. “We connect when we can connect. They’re mostly on their own. I’ll ask if they want to help, and they can join in when they feel like it,” said Blanchard.

Allowing students to take the lead is an important part of the REACH art program. Fifth-grader Maren Root was the director of the garden shed painting project. Rather than Blanchard leading the group through the process, she said Root was out there directing students what to do next. Root was also the one to propose the project to the principal and get it approved. “We tried to do it as professionally as we could,” Blanchard said, allowing students an opportunity to see everything that goes into leading a project like this.

Root said the project went very well, and she enjoyed being the project director. “I like seeing everything come together, everyone pitching in to help with it,” she said. She added that the project felt fairly easy overall. “We we did it pretty quickly, and it came out good,” she said.               

Sanborn said the REACH art opportunity is important for students, as are the gardening projects, and it was nice to have the programs working together. “We have kids that love the hands on, they don’t understand that it can be relatively simple to grow things at home. They get excited about it, they go home and get their parents excited about it,” she said. This garden shed project allowed for pulling programs together – gardening, art, and community service – which has been an interesting process, said Sanborn. 

The group of REACH art students who were involved in the project are fourth-graders Emma Chasse, Audrey Day, Emma DeBrosse, Bella Favreau, Samantha Murphy, and AJ Purcell as well as 5^th graders Tyler Collins, Chase Hodgkins , Rebecca Huff, Elliot Jordan , Austin Norcia and Root.