Ronan High School students spruce up portion of city park

By B.L. Azure

Ronan City Park, aka Carlene Bockman Park, was recently adorned with plants native to the area and mural art by Ronan High School students as part of youth garden project. (B.L. Azure photo)

RONAN — The Ronan City Park, also known as Carlene Bockman Park, got a little facelift recently thanks to the efforts of Ronan High School students involved in the “R-Garden” project.

According to Janet Sucha of the Ronan School District, the student project was to design and build a native plants garden in the park. There was also an art component of the project that refurbished the exterior of the closed public rest rooms with mural art.

The high school greenhouse students designed the garden and nurtured the plant starts. The high school advanced art students designed and painted the mural. High school Salish language students researched the plants and labeled them with Salish and Kootenai names.

Middle school Native American Studies students also lent a hand by producing a plant reference booklet to accompany the garden.

The objective was to utilize youth as integral and constructive members of the Ronan community as well as the general at large community. It was meant to enhance their self-esteem for being a valued and contributing member of the community.

“We used plant species traditionally used for food, medicine or beauty by the Salish and Kootenai Tribes,” Sucha said, adding that the effort went beyond the establishing the native plants gardens. “The project promotes awareness and an appreciation of the Native cultures. It enhances the pride in our surroundings by enriching and beautifying a neglected public area.”

Another part of the project was learning about the differences between tribal traditional tobacco use and its commercial use with the goal reducing non-traditional tobacco use among young Indian smokers or preventing it all together.

The students were not just tethered to the park and school. They went on many field trips researching all facets of their project.

And their effort paid off. They won the 2009 National Youth Garden Grants Program Award from among more than 1,000 participants in the program. The also got dirty fingernails and green thumbs and a big dose of pride by their accomplishment that will live on as a very noticeable and nice addition to Carlene Bockman Park.