Venture Description: "Natures Den" is an outdoor classroom for music, art, and theatre performances and other educational activities including play and recreation. Here at Leominster High and Center for Technology, our Venture has combined nature, art, and science studies and reached out to the community. Previously the space was a mess; now it offers classes and community a place for meetings and activities in a new amphitheatre. Our group's efforts are beautifying the school for outdoor education. This space changes the way education can happen at our high school and builds community. Together with a small science museum, we are making a difference.

Venture Origin: Three years ago the members of the Art 4 Community Service Learning decided they wanted to beautify a dilapidated space that they could see from the art room window. Ms. Wironen, a Youth Venture Champion, met with the club several times to help us organize and plan a five year approach to this space. Each year we come up with new ideas.

Innovation: Our student group has made an outdoor space great. Now we have a beautiful and relaxing place to meet and perform. The space is in constant use, especially during advisory periods. It invites students to relax in the hammocks or play chess/checkers. The bird bath and birdhouses and towering pine trees provide everyone with a space to view and study nature in all of its splendor. We make choices

Impact

Impact: The impact has been phenomenal. Classes from all disciplines conduct performances and hold meetings. With the help of a neighboring greenhouse, students planted arborvitae, mosses and bulbs. One alumnus has even attained an internship at the tile business that donated tiles for our mosaic panels. The Arts faculty and classes have cookouts and celebrations in the space. Fundraising tie-dyeing was here. Our partner Discovery Museums helps us.

Engagement with the community: LHS has over 1900 students. The Arts Department uses this space weekly (we service over 500 students each semester). Other classes use this space repeatedly. The Art Association (over 100 members) will host a meeting here and have a portrait demonstration on site. A Theatre Company uses the space for summer shows for children. Two other Youth Venture teams are planning sound and lighting here.

Impact and engagement progress since launch: Our project was launched 2 years ago, and enthusiasm has not wavered. Students and teachers are thrilled with its abundant opportunities for outdoor education and recreation. The most stunning and significant progress was made with the generosity of a local masonry company who designed and built a great amphitheatre. We visited Discovery Museums for a great field trip. They'll come here next.

Impact and engagement strategy: Our plan, which began two years ago, is a five-year initiative. This spring major excavation and landscaping will be done. Students will work with a local garden center to plant shrubs. We have had telecasts on local cable TV, letters written to the editor of local newspapers, and DVDs produced documenting the project. Our plan also entails reaching out to Senior Citizens and local adult artists.

Awards: Our work was highlighted in 12/06 N.E.Y.V. Newsletter. School committee recognized local businesses and showcased our DVD.

Budget

Amount of Youth Venture seed grant: $1000

Money raised: In 2005 we raised $600 and were awarded $750 from the LHS Kendall Fund for another park bench. A $750 grant to the Leominster Cultural Council for shrubbery wasn't funded. We will raise more.

Creative ways of raising resources: Quality Masonry has constructed and donated the amphitheatre. All four of our mosaic mural panels (four have been completed were donated by Once Upon a Tile). Two benches were purchased for 1/2 cost from a national company and they donated a cast aluminum trash receptacle worth $500.

Strategy

Expansion plan for next 6 months: The Band Club is planning a sound system; and Drama Club is working on a lighting proposal. DPW is clearing brush. QM will excavate. Two landscapers have been contacted for spring help. Technology Ed. students are planning a wind generator.

Plans for sustaining the project: We have reached out to other groups: Band Club, Drama Club, Technology Education, and community groups. As they invest energy and resources, a sense of shared ownership emerges. In all PR including photo ops, other groups have been recognized and highlighted for every contribution.

Vision for three years from now: In 2010, Nature's Den will be part of the community. There will be a schedule of events published on-line for student performances and exhibits as well as professionals. Art classes will observe plants, shrubs and birds. Renewable energy will be working including photo- voltaics powering a mosaic water fountain and a wind generator in place. The space will serve the town's recreation dept.

Project impact: Our Amphitheater brings a sense of relief to students when we see it. It is a perfect place to feel comfortable and to be relaxed. Nature's Den is not only used by the Fame small school, but is open to the entire school and for anyone who chooses to spend time there. We have an amphitheater that can hold up to about 250 people, which is great for presentations. Students have made it their own. We have planted moss, and various plants to make nature the main core of our space. CTE small school has contributed by making the cement slabs for our two benches. Each part of our school community benefits from Nature's Den. Teachers love to be out there with their classes, especially in the spring and fall. It's great for our art classes because we can bring nature into our work. It has a pretty open space so whiffle ball can be played too. The LHS band also loves Nature's Den. They use the space in the summer for their LHS Band Camp program. Very recently our Art Club had taken a field trip to the Discovery Museum in Acton. They are our partners and are helping us create our space into exactly how we imagine it. Together we are designing Nature's Den and will be working with them to add outdoor exhibits.

Youth Venture movement - what it means and how you can contribute: There is nothing more rewarding than to see that our actions and hard work become a reality. Our group consists of 16 underclassmen with so much talent, dedication, and zeal. We have worked long and hard, and our hard work has certainly paid off. We have truly improved our high school environment. We have not only made it visually appealing, but we have also improved the arts program dramatically and have given our fellow students a place to express themselves. By doing something that we believed in and going against the crowd, we have gained new sense of accomplishment and motivation. We will continue pushing our way through the community learning that responsibility is important in giving back to our community, locally and globally. We take pride that we are part of a national Youth Movement that encourages and supports Dreaming and acting on our Visions and Ideas.As students of Leominster High School for a combined total of 7 years(Kim and Rebecca), A4CSL has showed us that working hard and being involved in the community have really given us a sense of pride. Our group can serve as a model through our website, our DVD, and by working with other venture teams, nationally and locally. We are ready and willing to speak publicly and communicate our successes and problems with other groups like ours. We will help others who share a commitment to change.

Author:
Kim
United States
Website: ExploreandDiscover.com