A recent study by researchers at the University of Waterloo shows that teen mental health is much better when viewing nature, especially in urban environments. At Uni, there aren’t many natural decorations incorporated inside the building, especially after the pandemic. However, smaller steps have been taken to include more nature. To have more greenery in and outside the building, the biggest step to take is initiative.
Uni Director Elizabeth Majerus says, “There’s absolutely no obstacles, but the resource that would be needed would be time and energy.”
Getting funding for projects to incorporate more plants at Uni is already on Director of Advancement Janet Kroencke’s list when she meets with donors, according to Majerus. If students want to bolster this process, they should reach out to the Advancement Team and express their plans.
According to Majerus, “When I first stepped into the Interim Director position in the Fall of 2019, I initiated a plant distribution [program]. Teachers could request a plant and we bought the teachers plants and they put them into their classrooms and took care of them.”
According to Majerus, these plants went home with teachers and students during the pandemic. But after COVID-19 isolation, getting plants wasn’t a top priority of Majerus’s, especially with new policies and tasks to fulfill.
“Last time … Sheree Denham, the main office manager, and I took the initiative … and it just hasn’t happened again,” Majerus said.
There’s already a small garden plot in the green space at Uni, but more could be added. Last year, Uni art teacher Lisa Evans taught a Design Thinking course, with a project on developing Uni’s green space. The students chose to focus on the green space instead of reducing sickness at Uni.
“People do realize that we do have a lack of beautiful green space between here and Kenney Gym … it’s sort of utilitarian and could be so much nicer,” Evans said.
According to Evans, some students’ designs focused on environmentalism and included more functional and natural designs in the green space.
“At the conclusion of our class we gave a presentation to Dr. Majerus, Janet Kroencke, who is our Advancement [Director], and Uni Alumni Stirling Lemme, who’s doing Landscape Design at [UIUC],” Evans said.
There are a few individual efforts to incorporate more nature into classrooms. German teacher Jenny Robins has a class plant German students take care of. They also grow and maintain other plants, like avocados.
According to Robins, gardening started with a class plant during her first year of teaching. It’s expanded to more than just one plant.
“We started planting our own in the windows, we had tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers … and now we’re just trying out different things. We’re trying avocados this year,” Robins said.
Getting more nature throughout Uni is a feasible project, and has been done before. The biggest step to take is student initiative, and reaching out to Uni’s Administration and Advancement Team.
“Honestly, I like the green, I think it makes everybody a little bit happier and it’s good for everybody to watch and enjoy something grow together,” Robins concluded.
