Dike-Newell School gets trim, shows its ‘face’

FIRST-GRADE teacher Kathy Henrikson points to a side of the building at Dike- Newell School in Bath on July 15. The school sign is completely covered by overgrowth. Below, Henrikson points to the sign, which is visible now that she and city arborist Tom Hoerth have cleared the area of overgrown shrubs and other vegetation.

Three weeks after first-grade teacher Kathy Henrikson began the considerable task of removing undergrowth from the Dike- Newell School grounds, city arborist Tom Hoerth finished the job on Monday and Tuesday.

For the first time in years, you can actually see the school sign, on the wall to the left of the school entrance.

The granite bench is visible now, as well.

To the right, facing the twostory section of the school, black-eyed Susans and other plants thrive, after Henrikson weeded and thinned out the area in July.

Dike-Newell School can breathe again.

OVERGROWN bushes and other plants obscured a first-grade classroom at Dike- Newell School before Bath city arborist Tom Hoerth went in on Aug. 6 with equipment. Below, Hoer th hauls away and rakes remaining brush and weeds from the front of the school on Tuesday. Some of the greenery will be transplanted around Bath.

“Nice difference,” Principal Sally Brown said Tuesday morning as she joined Henrikson, Hoerth and others to view the newly liberated school grounds. “I love the openness. It looks so much better. I love being able to see the name of the school.”

This autumn, all 300 Dike- Newell students will have the opportunity to plant daffodil and tulip bulbs in the area Henrikson and Hoerth cleared.

Wait until you see Dike-Newell School next April.

The entire beautification project has its roots in two grants received by Henrikson. The state awarded her $2,500 to pursue her board certification — a grant that required her to pursue a teacher-impact module that impacts outside the classroom. In turn, the Dike-Newell School PTA awarded her $500 toward the daunting project of cleaning up the growth that had engulfed the school.

Before she got going in mid- July, the sun was having a difficult time making it into one classroom.

“You couldn’t see anything,” Hoerth said Tuesday.

“I chose this project because it needed to be done,” Henrikson said. “Just walking in the school now looks so much better, even at this stage.”

Henrikson looks forward to the students planting the bulbs. In addition, students and teachers will plant “butterfly” bushes, which actually attract butterflies.

“The kids will participate, which is part of the module,” she said.

Even the discarded shrubs will not be thrown away. Hoerth said he intends to transplant them into other areas of the city, which need greenery. Hoerth sees a “winwin.”

“The teachers wanted some help doing it,” Hoerth said, “and it was a source of plant material. “I’ll transplant them, and move them to other landscapes that need it.”

lgrard@timesrecord.com

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