The City of Verona passed a $150 million referendum to rebuild the school district and this includes the surrounding landscape. The Madison school district also recently won a $350k grant to establish nature based curriculum and gardens to bring children closer to nature. Lily Mank, MSLA student, wrote an article for The Verona Press in an effort to bring community reflection towards the spaces provided for children as well as the opportunities ahead of us. Mank explains the importance of integrating nature into the lives of children and students in her article.
Miss Mank explains, “It’s the influence of strong evidence and community voices that push change forward when design firms cannot for budget or other constraints. In this case, the community and other community based organizations can become necessary advocates for the landscape when presented with the information and tools to re-frame our perspective on school environments. It’s a conversation I look forward to continuing.”
As Miss Mank concludes, “Nature cannot be reserved for the background, it must be interwoven throughout the site.”
You can read more of her article at: https://www.scribd.com/document/357618291/VP0831#