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Vandals can't stop this class and its garden | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
What started as a lesson about nature has turned into a course in perseverance.
Those enrolled are students at the Detroit Day School for the Deaf. They planted a butterfly garden last fall.
In late March, vandals trashed the garden, yanking out perennials and shrubs and throwing them against a wall.
The students replanted. Three weeks later, intruders struck again. And when they got to school Monday, they found plants had been ripped out again last weekend.
Though devastating for the school, at Forest and the Lodge service drive in Detroit, the experience has not extinguished hope.
Students are watching as plants get reestablished. On Monday, they released a new generation of butterflies.
"It's almost like a metaphor for the human spirit," teacher Peggy Collrin said. "The kids are amazed that these things came back."
In addition, the school is working to make connections with its neighbors in the area near Wayne State University. It has unlocked gates to the garden and is installing four benches for passersby. Families who use the school's playscape are being invited to enjoy the butterfly garden as well.
Collrin, who teaches art and life skills, said she hopes once neighbors get involved in the butterfly garden, they'll care about it and perhaps watch out for it on weekends and during vacations when the school is closed.
About 40 deaf and hearing-impaired students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade are enrolled at Detroit Day School for the Deaf, part of Detroit Public Schools. Established in 1898, it is among the country's oldest day schools for the deaf. Most students communicate through sign language, Collrin said.
She created the butterfly garden project for students in a transitional program. Age 14 to 19, the students are learning hands-on skills as well as improving language and communication abilities before enrolling in a vocational school.
Collrin applied for and received grants for the garden's materials, as well as classroom books, even caterpillar larvae.
In class, the students learned this winter about butterflies and habitats. By creating and maintaining the butterfly garden and writing about it, Collrin said, the students learn to gather data and do research.
"It's not just making the project but learning the skills to apply to other areas," she said.
They were eager to get started this spring. Then the vandals struck.
Collrin tried to turn that into a lesson, encouraging students to express how they felt and to theorize about who might have wrecked the garden and why.
One student suggested it was "wild little kids coming on the weekends," she said.
Another wanted to confront the vandals.
"I would want to ask them, why did they kill my baby plants? That was just stupid," Collrin said the student told her.
Collrin admits that she was discouraged herself, and after the second incident, she said she "prayed for direction. Should I keep doing this?"
The next Saturday, she said, she went to the butterfly garden and met a neighborhood resident whose five grandchildren were playing on the swings.
Collrin started telling them about the garden. As she talked, Collrin said, a butterfly landed at her feet.
The grandmother told her the family would like to return and help with the project. Since then, Collrin said, she has met several other neighbors who also want to volunteer.
She envisions the butterfly garden becoming a long-term project that will benefit the students and the community. She wants to seek grants for an ecology summer camp, for an outdoor learning center.
School principal Jan Goike said she's seen student communication skills improve because of their hands-on experiences in the garden. She praised Collrin for not letting vandals stop the project.
"I really credit Peggy for saying, 'This happened, but it's not going to deter us,' " Goike said.
Collrin, 58, who has taught at the school for 33 years, said she feels more positive about the butterfly garden's future now.
"I can't tell you what it means for people to say, 'Oh, keep going,' " she said.
What started as a lesson about nature has turned into a course in perseverance.
Those enrolled are students at the Detroit Day School for the Deaf. They planted a butterfly garden last fall.
In late March, vandals trashed the garden, yanking out perennials and shrubs and throwing them against a wall.
The students replanted. Three weeks later, intruders struck again. And when they got to school Monday, they found plants had been ripped out again last weekend.
Though devastating for the school, at Forest and the Lodge service drive in Detroit, the experience has not extinguished hope.
Students are watching as plants get reestablished. On Monday, they released a new generation of butterflies.
"It's almost like a metaphor for the human spirit," teacher Peggy Collrin said. "The kids are amazed that these things came back."
In addition, the school is working to make connections with its neighbors in the area near Wayne State University. It has unlocked gates to the garden and is installing four benches for passersby. Families who use the school's playscape are being invited to enjoy the butterfly garden as well.
Collrin, who teaches art and life skills, said she hopes once neighbors get involved in the butterfly garden, they'll care about it and perhaps watch out for it on weekends and during vacations when the school is closed.
About 40 deaf and hearing-impaired students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade are enrolled at Detroit Day School for the Deaf, part of Detroit Public Schools. Established in 1898, it is among the country's oldest day schools for the deaf. Most students communicate through sign language, Collrin said.
She created the butterfly garden project for students in a transitional program. Age 14 to 19, the students are learning hands-on skills as well as improving language and communication abilities before enrolling in a vocational school.
Collrin applied for and received grants for the garden's materials, as well as classroom books, even caterpillar larvae.
In class, the students learned this winter about butterflies and habitats. By creating and maintaining the butterfly garden and writing about it, Collrin said, the students learn to gather data and do research.
"It's not just making the project but learning the skills to apply to other areas," she said.
They were eager to get started this spring. Then the vandals struck.
Collrin tried to turn that into a lesson, encouraging students to express how they felt and to theorize about who might have wrecked the garden and why.
One student suggested it was "wild little kids coming on the weekends," she said.
Another wanted to confront the vandals.
"I would want to ask them, why did they kill my baby plants? That was just stupid," Collrin said the student told her.
Collrin admits that she was discouraged herself, and after the second incident, she said she "prayed for direction. Should I keep doing this?"
The next Saturday, she said, she went to the butterfly garden and met a neighborhood resident whose five grandchildren were playing on the swings.
Collrin started telling them about the garden. As she talked, Collrin said, a butterfly landed at her feet.
The grandmother told her the family would like to return and help with the project. Since then, Collrin said, she has met several other neighbors who also want to volunteer.
She envisions the butterfly garden becoming a long-term project that will benefit the students and the community. She wants to seek grants for an ecology summer camp, for an outdoor learning center.
School principal Jan Goike said she's seen student communication skills improve because of their hands-on experiences in the garden. She praised Collrin for not letting vandals stop the project.
"I really credit Peggy for saying, 'This happened, but it's not going to deter us,' " Goike said.
Collrin, 58, who has taught at the school for 33 years, said she feels more positive about the butterfly garden's future now.
"I can't tell you what it means for people to say, 'Oh, keep going,' " she said.