Members of the Environmental Action Committee, have been spotted on the roof of the Commons over the course of this past year, working in the rooftop garden.
The Commons is a LEED Platinum certified building, the highest designation given by the US Green Building Council as a part of their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. Part of why the Commons has been given this honor is the fact that it has a green roof. However, as science teacher and EAC faculty advisor, Peter Zdrojewski explained that the garden hasn’t always been in the greatest shape.
“Over the years, that green roof was really just a thin layer of soil and some weeds, so it wasn’t really living up to its full potential of what a green roof could be,” Zdrojewski said.
To fix this, the EAC planted a pollinator garden on the roof with the help of Zdrojewski, art teacher Eric Oldmixon, English teacher Alanna Hickey, and the Branson facilities team.
“[The EAC] identified the specific plants they wanted up there. [They made sure to have] a good diversity of plants that were big and small and attracted different wildlife,” Zdrojewski said.
All of the plants in the garden are native to California, which means they’re drought tolerant and low maintenance.
“These are perennial plants that come back every year. Some of them will reseed on their own. We will have to do regular weeding, that kind of maintenance, but it really won’t require too much work,” Hickey said.
This means the hardest of the EAC’s work is already behind them.
“This year has been a long process of weeding, getting rid of the dead soil, and then putting new soil and compost back on the roof,” Hickey said.
The task of moving hundreds of pounds of soil and planting over 50 plants was no easy feat, so Zdrojewski also enlisted the help of his Environmental Science class. Not only was their involvement helpful for finishing the work, Zdrowjeski also believed it was a beneficial learning experience for the students.
“Experiential learning is a really useful pedagogical approach,” Zdrojewski said, “Letting them work outside with their hands is a good way of keeping them engaged.”
With the bulk of the work on the pollinator garden out of the way, Zdrojewski’s Environmental Science class has moved on to working in the community garden by the stairs.
“They were tasked with, in small groups, figuring out what area of the garden needed a little TLC and they’ve been researching ways to improve that,” Zdrojewski said.
Some of the projects include overhauling the aquaponic system, planting more native plants, and replacing corroded Redwood posts. Environmental Science student and leader of the EAC Paige Macy ’25 said she’s enjoyed being able to work on improving the garden during class as well as clubs blocks.
“It’s really fulfilling because we spent three years trying to build a volunteer garden and it’s finally done. So it’s kind of amazing,” Macy said.
Zdrojewski acknowledged the work as a way that his students–especially current seniors–could leave a mark on their community.
“It’s a little chance for them to leave a legacy, right? Everything in the garden was built by students years ago with [Oldmixon] and it’s been changed and maintained over the years by students,” he said.
By working to beautify and improve outdoor spaces on-campus, the EAC and the faculty members involved seek to take advantage of Branson’s natural resources.
“It’s such a gift to live somewhere where you can be outside year round, and on a campus that’s mostly outdoors with so much plant diversity,” Hickey said. “I really want for our students to feel an investment in this place as a place, not just an institution, but as an ecosystem they’re a part of.”
