Located behind the district’s administrative office, the new Clark-Shawnee Butterfly Garden and Memory Walk serves as a lasting reminder and celebration of Clark-Shawnee’s past, present, and future. Beginning in December 2022, you can be a part of the district’s history and future by purchasing an engraved brick that will be placed in the Memory Walk.
These 4” by 8” logo bricks can be personalized with up to three lines of text to honor, celebrate, thank, or remember a loved one, family, organization, special occasion, and more. You may also choose to add clip art representing Possum, Reid, Rockway, Clark-Shawnee, a butterfly, or a heart.
Bricks are $75 and will be available for purchase online while supplies last. All proceeds from the brick sale will fund the Butterfly Garden and Memory Walk along with commemorative plaques for Possum, Reid, Rockway, and Shawnee High School and Middle School.
“Although the physical Possum, Reid, and Rockway buildings are no longer part of our district operations, they represent the rich history that collectively forged the identity of the new consolidated Shawnee Elementary School,” explained Brian Masser, Assistant Superintendent of Clark-Shawnee. “It is important for the district to create generational bridges to connect the school experiences in Springfield Township from different eras, so the values that have historically defined our community continue to guide us.”
Mini replica pavers are also available for purchase online. These $25 replicas will be sent directly to you as a piece of history to take home.
About the Clark-Shawnee Butterfly Garden and Memory Walk
The Butterfly Garden and Memory Walk project began during the 2021-2022 school year when third-grade Gifted students at Shawnee Elementary wanted to positively impact the district now and in the years to come. After deliberation and research, the class presented the idea of a butterfly garden to administration.
“This project became important because of the ownership that was taken from each individual student,” said John Campbell, Clark-Shawnee’s Gifted Coordinator. “Students realized the impact they could make on the school and community through this project, and really worked hard to make this happen.”
Students researched the positive effects of butterfly gardens along with the best locations, plants, and butterfly species to attract. The project continued to grow as students and staff sought ways to commemorate the history of Clark-Shawnee’s previous elementary schools.
“I hope the community can see the pride we take in our past and future through this combined memory walk and butterfly garden project,” said Campbell. “I want our current and future student population to have an avenue for science, language arts, social studies, and math activities that can be conducted based off of the butterfly garden.”
This garden was made possible through a partnership with Natures Own, a local landscaping, design, and installation company. A brick walk surrounds the Butterfly Garden which was designed and planted by the Gifted class in the fall of 2022. Once all bricks have been purchased, the walk will be paved with the engraved bricks to honor the district’s history and look toward the future.
Aubrey Lee, a current fourth-grade student who has been involved in the project since the beginning, has enjoyed the experience and working alongside her classmates toward a common goal. She loved seeing their ideas become reality.
“Everyone came together and just worked really hard to get it done,” said Lee. “Everyone should buy a brick to raise money for our school and to finish the Memory Walk around the garden.”
Commemorative plaques from Possum, Reid, Rockway, and Shawnee High School and Middle Schools will be placed along the walk to bring history onto Clark-Shawnee’s campus. Bases for these plaques were fabricated by Shawnee and CTC senior, Colton Roberts.
“This project is a representation of our past and an investment into our future,” explained Campbell. “We are highlighting and celebrating the history of our past schools while also investing in our current and future student population through the butterfly garden. Not only are we raising money for our project, but we are giving community members a chance to personalize a brick and place it among other bricks to honor, place in memory of, or recognize our Clark-Shawnee community.”
Purchase an Engraved Brick for Shawnee’s Memory Walk here!
Original source can be found here
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