With scissors in hand, Page students from Deb Rossi’s fifth-grade class snipped a red ribbon officially opening and dedicating the Page Elementary hammock garden this week. It’s a project the 5th graders researched, planned, and raised money to build through much of the 2024-25 school year.
The idea for the garden started after Rossi took her class outside to read last fall. They sat on the ground enjoying being outdoors, but they found ants climbing all over them. “It was very distracting,” said Rossi.
She came up with the idea for a hammock garden, pitched the idea to Page Principal Amy Forman and then to her students. She wanted them to be part of making the garden a reality. They enthusiastically moved full speed ahead, brainstorming how the hammock garden should look, researching different kinds of hammock gardens, and even helping find donations and support for the project.
Students created and presented a power point for a few members of the board of education and other school leaders, gaining their full support. At the ribbon cutting, students said all the work was worth it.
Kaiden Snyder comfortably laid in a hammock holding the class pet - a giant frog named Sunny. He said Sunny deserved to enjoy the garden too. “It’s kind of crazy. We were working on it just about all year and now it’s awesome to see it all come together.”
He said the hardest part was waiting for the project to be done and ready for use. Although they tried their best to have it finished before the end of the school year, it didn’t quite happen and the fifth-graders who spent so much time creating the garden realized they wouldn’t even be the ones to use it the most since they’ll be moving on to middle school next year. The ribbon cutting event gave them an opportunity to be the first ones in the hammocks.
“It’s really good. I hope the 4th and 5th graders next year will really enjoy it,” said Snyder.
Eli Foote wrapped himself like a cocoon in one of the hammocks. He gave the garden a 9 out 10 stars saying the only thing wrong with the project was that they had to wait so long for it to happen.
Rose Forman, a 5th grader next year, wasted no time getting comfortable with a book and her stuffed animal in one of the hammocks. “I’m excited. It’s going to be a great spot to read,” she said.
Rossi addressed her students gathered for the ribbon cutting. “I couldn’t be more proud of you guys and all your hard work. This is amazing.”
Page librarian Jessica Shuck said she knows students will get a lot of good reading time in the hammocks next year. “You should all be very proud of yourselves and what you’ve been able to do,” she told students. “I’m very excited to use the garden next year and I hope it will be another way to help entice students to read more.”
Forman was ecstatic with the garden. “I love it and I love that it’s for future generations of Page students to use. It was such a selfless act by our 5th graders. They knew they wouldn’t get it done to use themselves, but they still worked very hard on it. And now it’s here and it’s going to be a great place for students to enjoy reading."
Forman thanked everyone who supported the project including Family Fare for their $1,000 One School at a Time award, the Barry County Youth Advisory Council for a $2,278 grant, NTA Landscaping for material donations, Barry County lumber for deals on supplies and delivery, and to the TK grounds department for stepping up and adding one more project to their busy schedule.