Growise have made the back to school adjustment a little bit easier for the students of St. Michael’s House, Grosvenor School by donating them a state of the art greenhouse.
The students at St. Michael’s House, Grosvenor School couldn’t wait for the summer to end and the school year to start so that they could get planting seeds in their fabulous, brand new greenhouse kindly donated to them by Growise from Bord na Móna.
The Growise greenhouse was a main feature in, five time Bloom Gold Medal winner garden designer, Jane McCorkell’s winning Growise from Bord na Móna showgarden at the 2012 Bloom Festival that took place in Phoenix Park. The concept of her Growise show garden was “My Garden”, and was designed with the enthusiastic gardener in mind. The aim of the garden was to offer visitors to Bloom a glimpse of a garden that they will aspire to create and own themselves. Jane’s vision for the garden was one that everyone can achieve. The Bloom judges shared in Jane’s vision, and were so blown away by the Growise “My Garden” that she was awarded Gold Medal in her category and also Best in Class.
All visitors to Bloom couldn’t help but to stop by Jane’s garden to bask in it’s beauty and craftsmanship. Growise from Bord na Móna therefore wanted to give a second life to some of this garden, so that others could share in its beauty. The fabulous greenhouse which was the main feature in this garden was decided upon to be donated to a very worthwhile charity so that they could experience the love and enjoyment of gardening. After some research, speaking to the extremely passionate St.Michael’s House, Grosvenor School Principal, Teresa Mc Gann, and learning of the extraordinary work carried out by all staff members of St.Michael’s House the decision to donate the greenhouse was made easy.
St. Michael’s House, Grosvenor School teaches children and young adults between the ages of 4 and 18 who have intellectual disabilities in a happy and supportive learning environment. At St.Michael’s House they strive to maximise the potential of their students for a fulfilled and balanced life, thus enabling them to participate fully in society. St.Michael’s House moved to their new location on Leopardstown Road just a year ago. Their previous location had no garden facilities, and at their new home the school aims to develop a multisensory garden experience that will give their students an opportunity to learn about food production, horticulture, and ecology all the while growing fruit, flowers and vegetables in a space full of fun and laughter.
Quoting Elizabeth Laurence, a member of the gardening committee at St. Michael’s House, Grosvenor School said: “There is a garden in every childhood where colours are brighter and the air is softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever before’. This is what we had envisaged for St. Michael’s House, and now with the help of Growise we bring our students a little closer to having their very own magical place to grow, learn and be happier.”
Not all students at St.Michael’s House, Grosvenor School respond to traditional teaching methods, however they all light up and grow in a garden setting. The Growise donated greenhouse is one of the first steps taken by the school in creating a garden that is stimulating, motivating, attractive, and which allows students to become more involved outdoors, and helps their learning to flourish.
Commenting at the presentation of the Growise greenhouse June Dowling, Marketing Manager at Bord na Móna, expressed how moved she was on meeting some of the students of St.Michael’s House, ” All of the students who I had the pleasure to meet were so excited and enthusiastic to show off the new addition to their garden. They proudly displayed seeds that they had planted, and already seemed at home in their new greenhouse. I look forward to visiting the students of St.Michael again to see the great additions they have made to their new garden and share with them their excitement for growing.”
The students and teachers in St. Michael’s House designed and created a range of artwork as a thank you to Growise from Bord na Móna for their generous gift, and came up with the clever tagline – “Bord na Móna are really cool, they gave a glasshouse to our school…..thank you!”
We wish the green fingered students of St.Michael’s House a blossoming future.
Source: haconnect.ie – Growise From Bord Na Móna Gives A Blooming Great Start To A School Year
