LITTLETON — He's not sure what all the flowers are that have been planted in his school's new garden, but Options Secondary Program Principal Greg Sumlin waters them anyway because he knows they have an important purpose.
The plants are part of an ecology class project taught by Kerry Nixon. The goal is to create a serenity garden for students to "learn how to calm themselves down," Nixon said. The hope for the garden is to help people at the school struggling with their mental health.
"We have a student population here that has a lot of anxiety, depression, anger issues," Nixon said. "So, we teach them and give them tools on how to work with those aspects of their life."
The project originally started as a wellness garden to grow healthier food to be served in the cafeteria. Nixon said the only meals "quite a few" students eat are at the school and they wanted cleaner options like a salad bar.
So after figuring out the logistics, Nixon went to Lowes to buy the necessary supplies. While there, she met a representative of the company who quickly shaped her class's project into a much bigger endeavor.
"They ended up adopting us, or sponsoring us, as a hero project and got three other stores involved," Nixon said. "So, we just blew it up."
The project proved successful, but Nixon wasn't satisfied. She wanted a place students could temporarily escape to under the watchful eye of school staff during the day and clear their minds.
So, last Monday, she and students -- current and former -- along with the school's principal broke ground on the new serenity garden.
"My vision was one student in the labyrinth at a time, so we're going to have a bench and water feature so people who are wanting to go in there can just kind of relax a little."
The crew built a pit in the center of the garden for kids to sit and reflect. That's where Nixon's former student Shawn Gladue sat in awe thinking of how it could've helped him.
"This is super zen," Gladue said gazing around the garden. "Like, it's so chill."
Gladue enrolled in classes shortly after his friend was killed at a party. He said he suffered depression, anxiety and even experienced suicidal thoughts.
"So much has changed since then but what I appreciate that they've kept the same is their major focus on not giving up on people," Gladue said. "It's like a very strong community here and people will always go the extra mile for you."
Gladue's sentiment is exactly Nixon said she hopes the garden will represent.
Not far from the pit is a memorial garden surrounded by roses to honor deceased students.
The garden is expected to be completed this week All that will be left before students start using it is for the newly planted flowers to bloom.
