Date: Fri 14-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Hawley-school-park-bio

Full Text:

Hawley School Applies For Grant To Create Biodiversity Pocket Park

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

When Hawley Elementary School math/science specialist Debbie Cowden thinks of

spring, she's hoping for more than daffodils.

This year, she wants it all - spring peepers, wood frogs, wildflowers,

butterflies, maybe even a spotted salamander or two - and she's looking to

find them in a very small, very pristine bit of wilderness behind the Church

Hill Road school that she and other teachers hope to turn into an outdoor

nature lab.

The park would only be one acre - a very long, thin acre located at the back

of the Taylor playing field.

"We'll tread very carefully," promised school principal Linda Siciliano,

hoping not only to reassure school neighbors living on The Boulevard and

School House Hill Road whose property backs onto the proposed park, but also

sending a message to the entire school community that the property must be

treated with the utmost respect and care.

"Our intention is to make this a true laboratory for the study of plants and

animals, as well as a serene place for student reflection and expression," Mrs

Cowden said.

With the help of consultant Will Stoddard of the Kellogg Environmental Center

in Derby, Mrs Cowden, Mrs Siciliano and third grade teacher Maura Drabik have

worked together to apply for a $9,580 grant from the Toyota Corporation to

help create the mini-park.

The money would be used for restoration of native plant species, for a small

outdoor amphitheater, for construction of an entrance trail and bridge and

toward purchase of educational resources including cameras for the students to

record and bring their findings back to the classroom. The school hopes to

hear back from Toyota concerning the grant request by February 28.

Mrs Cowden said the project "extends an idea which began with the donation of

land from the town of Newtown," a gift that was made May 26, 1995.

The property includes a small woodland bordering the field and contains at

least two vernal pools, which are wetlands that appear in spring but often dry

up over the hot summer months.

"They fill up and dry down," Mr Stoddard said, explaining that since fish

can't survive in vernal pools, they are a perfect breeding place for frogs and

other species of amphibians whose eggs are normally eaten by fish.

"I'm looking forward to collecting tadpoles in those pools," Mrs Cowden said,

adding she also wouldn't mind seeing a pair of wood ducks set up housekeeping

in May.

Pack 70 Boy Scout Eddie Wolf and his fellow scouts helped clear and clean the

trails.

-Bee Photos, Evans

Birch trees decorate the winter woods.

Hawley science specialist Debbie Cowden stands nearby a vernal pool.

Fallen leaves trapped by ice.

Moss pillows sheltered by trees.

Who lives here? Hawley students hope to discover.