AMESBURY — Amesbury Middle School staff and students recently breathed new life into their school’s courtyard, with the transformation being unveiled to the school community earlier this month.
The idea to transform the courtyard came from Maria Morel, a special educator for the middle school’s SOAR program, which is designed to foster skill development in emotional regulation, academic resilience and socialization.
“So, I’ve been in the district for 13 years, but I’ve been at the middle school for six of those 13 years. And, ever since my kids have come through the school, I always thought the courtyard would be a great space for outdoor learning or just staff going out there for lunch. So, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, to redo, kind of brighten it up,” she said.
So, Morel decided she wanted to take action on improving the area and brought the concept to her students in the program who quickly got behind it.
Morel also reached out to two other programs at the middle school who decided to help out too. Prior to the project, students did not use the space, and that much of the foliage was dead and unkempt.
“When you first got out there, there were a lot of dead trees, bushes that were not really taken care of, there was no grass, it was all moss and dirt,” she said.
So, a plan was devised to add more seating, a little lending library, Adirondack chairs and more to the courtyard, Morel said.
“The upgrades that we did were that we put some mulch down, we redid all of the moss, and there’s grass. I had my landscaper, JRO Landscaping, come out and treat the moss. We put in new dirt, and we added seeds, so new grass could come through. We added six picnic tables,” she said.
Morel said students were an important part of the project, and they primarily focused on tasks like weeding, raking and more.
“So, the kids did all of the picking of the weeds, raked out all the mulch; they obviously didn’t do the lifting of anything heavy. But, they definitely did all of the cleaning up of the weeds, cleaning up of the grass, fixing the grass, and a couple of kids have put together picnic tables,” she said.
Work on the courtyard area began this fall and recently wrapped up, with the new and improved space being revealed to the school community in mid-May.
Morel said the funding for the project came from two grants, a $1,363 grant from the Amesbury Educational Foundation, Inc. and a $1,157 grant from the Sgt. Jordan M. Shay Memorial Foundation.
“The funding all went through them, which was fantastic. Because, without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” she said of the grants.
Bill Messner, president of the Amesbury Educational Foundation, said he was glad his organization was able to provide one of the grants that made the project possible.
“To be able to give something to make that place even better than it’s already been is just so meaningful,” he said.
Now, the space is being used for outdoor learning and can also be used for middle school staff to connect for staff meetings, eating lunch and more.
Morel said all the students who were involved are proud of their work.
“They’re so happy about it, they’re ecstatic,” she said of students.
Morel also expressed her gratitude to the students involved in the project, and everyone who helped ensure the courtyard is being used to its full potential.
“I just wanted to give a huge shoutout to the children and everyone who helped the vision that these kids and I had come to life,” she said.