DEARBORN, Michigan (FOX 2) – In the future, students in the Salina district will find more green, natural areas on their campus.
Neighboring Salina Elementary and Salina Intermediate Schools are expanding their Green Schoolyards space as part of an approximately $425,000 school project funded largely by grants, donations and in-kind contributions.
“We believe that every child should experience the joy and benefits of nature, regardless of where they live. Dearborn Public Schools’ green schoolyards support 21st century education, promote children’s health, well-being and joy, and act as ecologically rich community environments that connect children and their neighborhoods to nature,” said Sue Stanley, principal of Salina Elementary. “In other words, we are committed to bringing childhood back to nature.”
Green Schoolyards is a concept that encourages students to expose themselves to more natural environments to promote health, play, and learn. Ongoing changes include establishing a Green Schoolyard area for kindergarten, establishing the schoolyard area near the Salina Intermediate Community Center, adding more trees and landscaping, creating space for a sports field at Salina Intermediate, and adding outdoor classrooms on campus. Future plans include adding more trees and green play areas at the schools in the next few years. Both schools already have vegetable and pollinator gardens. The elementary school also already has a rain garden, and Salina Intermediate will be adding a rain garden in September with support from Friends of the Rouge.
“Dearborn Green Schoolyards promotes children’s health and happiness by connecting them to their environment through nature-based learning and play,” the group’s mission statement says.
School staff are also trained on how to incorporate the ideas of Green Schoolyards into their lessons and how to connect students with nature. Connecting to nature has been shown to improve students’ physical and mental health, and there is growing evidence that it also leads to better academic outcomes.
Approximately 970 students in preschool through eighth grade attend Salina Elementary and Salina Intermediate Schools.
The initiative defines Green Schoolyards as “outdoor environments that strengthen local ecosystems, provide learning opportunities, and promote a wide range of play and social opportunities while improving social and emotional connections, health and well-being.”
The new learning and play area for preschool and kindergarten children at Salina Elementary School will include a rain garden, natural-like structures, a wooden stepper path, climbing trunks, wooden poles for sitting, spring rockers, a tricycle path for riding, additional trees and shrubs for heat protection and air filtration, and expanded green spaces for play.
“I don’t have to go into detail to explain all the benefits of just being outside in nature and having the Green Schoolyards in our community,” said Eman Ahmed, principal of Salina Intermediate. Green Schoolyards is an international model and the district received a grant from the Children and Nature Network to develop the schoolyards.
The additional green space will not only benefit students, but is also expected to benefit the community through better stormwater drainage, meaning more rainwater will be absorbed by the ground or later discharged into the stormwater drainage system. Increasing tree cover and vegetation in the area is also expected to help with air quality issues and reduce the impact of heat islands in the summer.
The Salina campus borders a large industrial area and the neighborhood faces environmental issues regarding air quality and flooding from excessive stormwater runoff.
Previous donors to the project include the City of Dearborn, Friends of the Rouge, DSHINES Gardens at the University of Michigan-Dearborn/Wayne State University, Cleveland Cliffs Foundation, Dearborn Sausage, CMS Energy Foundation, Dearborn Community Fund, ACCESS, Home Depot, Edw. C. Levy Co., Southenders, InterCultural Community Center of Dearborn, Players Guild, Boy Scouts and Exchange Club of Dearborn.
Fundraising continues. The Dearborn Education Foundation has supported the Green Schoolyards with several grants.
During the Education Committee meeting on April 11, 2024, Principal Stanley introduced representatives from many donor organizations.
“As you can see, we’re talking about it taking a village and a community (to raise a child). This was a dream, and all these people made it come true,” Stanley said.
