MAS Nature Club and PTA open educational, rain-collecting garden on campus

The outside of Mamaroneck Avenue School is now adorned with a brand-new garden for students and the community to enjoy, courtesy of the Nature Club and the MAS PTA.

In the fall of 2023, MAS’s Nature Club was started. A third grader named Alexis had the idea for the group and presented it to Principal Robert Janowitz, who was quick to support the idea. He offered guidance to Alexis and her mother, Dymarly Ruiz, on how to get the club up and running.

Ms. Ruiz invited fellow parent and nature lover, Leah Even, to co-lead the group. After two successful years, the Nature Club was part of the city’s annual Arbor Day celebration, and they were encouraged to apply for a grant from the Youth Climate Action Fund. The fund, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with grants distributed to non-profits by the City of White Plains, seeks to support youths aged 15-24 with micro-grants to rapidly launch and support climate initiatives. 

Ms. Ruiz and Ms. Even – both members of the MAS PTA – along with four local youth co-leaders, applied for the grant. They were awarded $5,000 to create a rain-collection system and a public-facing, educational, native plant garden on the MAS campus. Ms. Ruiz, Ms. Even, and the youth co-leaders collaborated on all aspects of the project from designing the garden and caring for the plants, to coordinating the construction of the rain-collection system and installing the garden. 

With over 120 plants of 20 different species, the garden aims to restore habitat critical to the survival of native pollinators and other wildlife, whose numbers have been quickly dwindling due to habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species. 

The project also aims to reduce the impact of climate change, such as that from increasingly frequent droughts, with the use of its rain-collection system. The system, constructed by National Installation & GC Corp in collaboration with the White Plains City School District, consists of two 55-gallon rain barrels. One barrel sits atop a raised base and collects water from a small aluminum roof, and the second collects any overflow from the first barrel. 

Even the pest control measures of the garden are eco-friendly, with Mosquito Dunks tablets being used to release a bacterium that kills only mosquito larvae and harms no other wildlife, pets or people.

The use of native plants in the garden was important to Ms. Even, who notes that these types of plants are uniquely suited to meet the needs of wildlife in our area. Beyond their benefits to wildlife, native plants are also better adapted to the region, meaning they use less water, do well in poor soil, require less maintenance, and ultimately can save people money in their home gardens.

Another goal of the project was to make the garden educational, both for those frequenting the MAS campus and for community members. Thus, informational signs were placed in the garden. One sign explains some of the reasons for gardeners to use native plants. It also displays a QR code which, when viewed through a phone camera, links the viewer to a list of all plants growing in the garden. Click here to view the list of plants and read more about the garden!

Native plant gardening, despite its many benefits, can look quite different from the traditional manicured lawns and ornamental plants prized by many. And yet many don’t realize the harm their fall and spring yard “clean-ups” are doing to beloved creatures, like fireflies and butterflies. So other signs in the garden explain how intentional decisions like “leaving the leaves” in fall and leaving things looking a bit “messy” over the winter are critical in providing food, shelter, and nesting and breeding sites for wildlife.

“The effects of climate change may be big,” said Mr. Janowitz, “But as this project showcases, we can each play a role in fighting it with small actions, even ones as simple as planting a garden.”