Lea School garden officially opens

Penn students teamed with students from K-8 Lea School to create a new garden in a concrete courtyard. They spent Tuesday afternoon performing spirited dance routines, dining on gourmet cuisine and frolicking outdoors on a sunny afternoon. The students at the local Lea School were unabashedly celebrating their new garden. But for the numerous Penn administrators, local politicians and Lea School faculty members who attended the grand opening of the school's garden -- jointly created by several Penn students, various faculty members and students from the K-8 public school and West Philadelphia community members -- Tuesday's ceremony meant much more. As part of a fall-semester Management 100 project, 10 Wharton School freshmen teamed up over the past several months with teachers and students at the Lea School -- located on 47th and Locust streets -- to convert a previously unused concrete courtyard into a vibrant garden that could serve both academic and recreational purposes. The project is the latest in a long series of collaborative efforts between the University and the local school. The garden was officially unveiled by Lea School Principal Cheryl Hazzard before a crowd of approximately 50 students, parents, faculty members and University administrators. Hazzard praised the University for playing an "integral part in our school" and for "serving our staff and students." "This is just the beginning. Wait until you see what's coming in the future," Hazzard said of the burgeoning "partnership" between Penn and the Lea School. Many audience members cheered as they stepped outside into the garden, which includes a dozen raised beds intended for growing a variety of plants, bushes and flowers; a raised bed with a shallow pond and seeding area and four murals depicting each season -- each element contributing to the garden's modest, yet graceful, botanical display. Prior to the unveiling of the garden, the audience gathered inside an auditorium to hear speeches from, among others, Hazzard, University President Judith Rodin and West Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. Rodin lauded the garden as a location that should provide education and serenity for the student body. "I think the garden has enormous potential. It will be a place for students to learn about life, about beauty, about environmental science, about respect for living things in public spaces and, importantly, about how to work together as a team," Rodin said. "It's been teamwork that's made this creation so successful," she added. And Blackwell claimed that this endeavor is but the latest example of Penn's "outreach effort" in the community. "We could not otherwise have [the garden] were it not for [University administrators and students] commitment, dedication and their willingness to roll up their sleeves and get the job done," Blackwell said. After the speeches concluded and the ceremony moved outside, the mood became even more jovial as many Lea School faculty members and other guests ate fruit salad and pasta provided by the White Dog Cafe, while students explored the garden and chatted with their teachers. Larry Serinsky, who graduated from the Lea School in 1964 and has served as the students' counselor for 13 years, called Tuesday's ceremony a "triumphant" and "uplifting experience." "What a marvelous way to reassert our school as the center of a community," Serinsky said. Sixth-grader Shamsudin Kadir, who acknowledged that he played a direct role in the creation of the garden, said he felt pleased that other children -- especially his five siblings -- would benefit from the use of the garden. "I want my little brothers and sisters, when they grow up, to have confidence in this garden," Kadir said.