WASHINGTON, La. (AP) - Downtown Washington will soon be blooming.
“By summer, these will be popping,” said Stephanie Elwood, an extension associate with Southern University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
She is referring to a 14 large, square cypress planters that now line Washington’s main business district.
Each is about 4 feet wide, about 3 feet tall and filled with flowering plants and shrubs.
“We have roses, gardenias, witch hazel and many others,” Elwood said.
Students with the Washington Career and Technical Education Center spent this week filling the planters with soil and scores of plants they had grown themselves as part of the beautification effort.
Although the historic town, which depends on tourism, will benefit, career center pro-start teacher Candy Palumbo said it is benefiting the school and its students as well.
She said many of the businesses in town don’t even know WCTEC exists.
“This is a chance to engage the business community and show them we are willing to work with the town,” Palumbo said. “This will help them realize there is a local treasure in their backyard they may not be aware of.”
The project is the brainchild of Elwood, who does most of her teaching in Baton Rouge. But she and her husband have a farm in the nearby Plaisance community.
“I have ties to this community and wanted to make it look nice,” said Elwood, who headed up an eight week gardening program at WCTEC this past semester.
Part of that program involved converting a unused storage area “into a lovely greenhouse.”
Palumbo said the greenhouse was initially intended to grow herbs and vegetables for the school’s culinary program, but adding flowers was just a natural extension.
Keeping up the planters will also become a part of that program.
She said students are required to have 400 hours of work experience and this would qualify. “We will be putting that into the curriculum,” Palumbo said.
She said the Washington Garden Club has agreed to help maintain the flowers and advise the students throughout the year.
This is generating a real air of excitement,” Palumbo said. “I think this is a model that other communities could follow.”
The project also has generated an unexpected side benefit - working in the garden is relaxing and helps relieve stress for many of the students.
“One of my students hated my course. He was having difficulty; he found the class too challenging. Now he is enjoying it. He enjoys nurturing the plants and takes great pride in it,” said Palumbo, who added both his grades and self-esteem have improved.
Elwood said that is something she has noticed in her own teaching career.
“I’ve taught hundreds of kids. They often complain and object, but I’ve yet to come across a kid who puts his hands into soil and doesn’t like it,” Elwood said.
Palumbo said the greenhouse and the plants the student raise have one other direct benefit for the students.
“It is helping our students learn to be productive citizens. That is just as important any bookwork,” Palumbo said.
She said the students are marketing the products of the greenhouse at the local farmers market and other venues.
“They are learning customer-service skills that will be of value when they transition from school to work,” Palumbo said.
Elwood praised Mayor Joseph Pitre and a host of volunteers and others who helped make the project possible.
She said Pitre had a limited budget for beautification and agreed to give the program a try.
Area businessman Pat Fontenot donated the aged cypress that Washington Alderman Krandall Pijou and school board employee Jack Caine assembled with the help of the students.
The soil was donated by the St. Landry Parish Waste Disposal District, which has its own composting operation.
“This is a real coalition,” agreed Palumbo. “Everyone has taken a small part. Now all the puzzle pieces are coming together.”
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Information from: The Daily World, https://www.dailyworld.com
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