Rain garden built at CGB school

Ayinde Vanterpool, 11, didn’t let the blazing sun stop him from digging away to build a rain garden outside of Ivan Dawson Primary School in Cane Garden Bay on Monday morning.

After putting down his shovel for a brief break, Mr. Vanterpool, a sixth grader at IDPS, explained that she wanted to help because she thinks the garden will make her school look more attractive.

“[Gardens] make places beautiful and nice,” he said.

Although many people appreciate gardens for their beauty alone, rain gardens — which are built into depressions in the landscape — are also intended to serve a variety of practical purposes, such as collecting excess water and allowing it to absorb into the ground.

“We’re confident that this will alleviate a lot of problems [at IDPS],” said Principal Theodore John.

Mr. John joked that the teachers and students “need a canoe” to get through the parking lot and playground anytime it rains.

“It takes literally only a minute for [the water] to start building up,” he said. “It’s been very frustrating over the years.”

The garden was a partnership between various volunteers, the school, the non-profit Association of Reef Keepers, Quito’s Gazebo & Inn, and The Horsley Witten Group, an environmental science and engineering firm based in Massachusetts.

SEE THE JUNE 8, 2017 EDITION FOR FULL COVERAGE. 

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