Several Hernando County schools were given makeovers on the outside to create a more inviting look.
By LOGAN NEIL
Published August 14, 2003
Recent visitors to Central High School probably have noticed the change. Gone is the drab, almost featureless landscaping. These days the entrance sports an array of fresh, green plants that thrive in newly spread cypress mulch. The flagpole is ringed with a handsome nautical-themed railing made of white rope and timbers.
The welcomed make over belongs exclusively to a group of diligent student volunteers, who spent several weeks this summer making their school campus more presentable to the public.
"It was sorely needed," said Central High ROTC commander Lt. Col. Michael Ralph, who organized the landscaping effort. "The kids just felt that there was no reason we couldn't have a nice looking campus that everyone would be proud of."
About 60 ROTC students worked with school maintenance crews to dress up the campus. Around walkways they cut out sections of sod and planted hardy plants, such as silver thorn and heather. They dug out long dead plant stalks and replaced them with young oak trees. They trucked in loads of mulch to ensure that the new plants would survive. In addition, the students also repainted the walls and walkway entrances to the ROTC building.
"It's much nicer to look at," said A.J. Korchak, 17, a senior in the ROTC program. "The kids who've come by said they appreciate that at least someone is making the school seem less like a school."
Around the county, schools seem to be putting a little more effort into their outward appearance in an effort to make them more appealing to the people who work there and the children who learn there. The initiative is partly in response to superintendent Wendy Tellone's assertion awhile back that students might find school a little more appealing if their campuses were nicer.
Tellone outlined her vision to Ken Hill shortly after he was appointed as head of the school's maintenance department. Hill said she explained that she loved the kind of landscaping they had at the Disney theme parks and wondered whether the same could be done at the schools.
"In the end we both agreed that it was probably more than we were capable of providing in our budget," Hill said. "But I told her there were plenty of things we could do that were more affordable."
Hill thought many of the schools just needed a little extra attention in the area of basic landscaping. Over the years, many of the schools' original plants, trees and shrubs had deteriorated because of vandalism or neglect. He contacted school principals and solicited their suggestions for improvements.
Incoming Powell Middle School principal Michael Ransaw was appalled by the neglect of several gardens as well as the flower beds near the front of his school and asked whether Hill's crews could come up with a plan to refurbish them. Hill responded with several dozen new shrubs and sent a work crew that spent more than two weeks landscaping the grounds at Powell.
Other schools also received some needed attention: Parrott Middle, Hernando High, Floyd Elementary and West Hernando Middle schools were among the campuses.
While Hill said that he would love to do more on the outside, he admits his priorities and the bulk of his maintenance budget are aimed primarily at making sure classrooms and buildings are in top shape.
"We realize that we can never do enough outside, and that's kind of a shame because people tend to make their first impressions of a school by looking at it from the outside," Hill said.
West Hernando Middle School principal Joe Clifford thinks a school with pleasing aesthetics makes for a more productive environment. Several years ago, his school embarked on an extensive revitalization of its landscaping, much of which was done by teams of student volunteers. The campus now sports an aviary, an iguana house, a prairie dog exhibit and several small gardens and ponds. Clifford believes that such projects bring a sense of community to a school.
"By having kids involved in the construction of those projects and in maintaining them, they have a sense of ownership in their school," Clifford said. "When you have an emotional affection for the place you work and learn in, it tends to have a positive impact in the classroom."
