Meet the members of Garden Club, a new addition to SHS

Garden Club, a new addition to Shorewood, was founded early this school year by juniors Lulu Braun, Rose Callahan, and Nya Kochnowicz. 

 The club serves to improve the campus as a whole, along with teaching members more about gardening and agriculture.

“A lot of the gardens around campus were messed up with the construction. [We’re making it so that] not just the inside of the school looks nice, but also things like the garden pots, and the flowerbeds,” Braun said. “We’re making sure everything is kept up really nice and not just ignored, just beautifying the campus.”

Braun wants to reinvent the way people think about the word ‘agriculture,’ and show that it is a positive thing.

“A lot of the time when you think of agriculture or gardening it can [seem like] a negative thing, working against the earth,” Braun said. “What we’re trying to do is teach it and promote it in a way that is more positive… kind of like working with the earth to garden and plant things.”

“Just being able to take pride in your space and bringing your own vision [to the school],” Kochnowicz said. “If you like the space that you’re in, then you’ll be happier going to it.”

An average meeting varies day to day, with undertones of nature themed crafts, informative and fun videos, and conversation. Recently, members joined together to make tissue paper marigolds for Day of the Dead.

“It’s predominantly about bonding with everyone in the club,” Callahan said. “We all get along really well, it’s a great community we’ve made, we bond over making cute little garden-y things.”

Taking advantage of the volunteering opportunity, the club participated in Shorewood’s Annual Fall Cleanup as one of their events this year.

“The dynamic with everyone is really nice…the cleanup was really fun,” Kochnowicz said. “It’s nice to see when people care.”

Lately, due to the cold weather, Garden Club’s meetings have been mainly discussion based. A common activity is watching informative videos of The Magic School Bus.

Upcoming events will consist primarily of fundraising, as they have combined efforts with Eco Club for a bake sale after Thanksgiving, donating all proceeds to the Victory Garden Initiative.

“[For our bake sale] we’re going to have little nature themed baked goods,” Callahan said. “We just want people to be aware and passionate about the environment, and this is a fun way.” 

Other small activities consist of creative twists on simple crafts.

“Most of our projects are crafty like the tissue paper marigolds. Soon we are going to make t-shirts and bookmarks with pressed flowers,” Braun said. 

The founders believe that the little things make a difference, and that any effort is helpful.

“Getting kids interested and involved in nature or just helping out at a local garden, even if it’s just at our school is really important,” Callahan said. 

Garden Club meets every Tuesday in Profe Leslie’s room.