By Mary O’KEEFE

On Saturday, Boy Scout Ash Ghiya, with his friends and family, helped create a garden with features specifically for those in the special education program at Crescenta Valley High School.

Ghiya is with Boy Scout Troop 391 and is a junior at CVHS. The garden is part of his Eagle Scout Project. He worked with CVHS Assistant Principal John Eldred to include certain plants that can inspire the senses.

The area is on the west side of the campus just south of the teachers’ parking lot. Last year, Eldred said, a student cleared the area, filled it with mulch and planted vegetation.

“What Ash wanted to do was to piggy back on top of that by clearing more of the area and laying mulch. He wanted to create a sensory garden for special education students,” Eldred said.

Each area of the garden was designed to highlight one of the five senses. Vibrant colors enhanced the sense of sight, plants like lavender and mint sparked the sense of smell, a section for edible vegetation spotlighted the sense of taste, succulents were planted for sensory/touch and wind chimes will be hanged for sound.

“Sensory” relates to sensation or the physical senses; transmitted or perceived by the senses. Heightening sensory relation was Ghiya’s goal in creating the garden.

“Because it is for special education students at this school [these plants] will help them learn the experience of sensory,” Ghiya said.

He planned the entirety of the project from the planter boxes (he added three) to the plants themselves (all donated by OSH). The planters will work perfectly into the future plans for that area of the campus.

“We will be adding a new class to the curriculum – a farm-to-table gardening class,” Eldred said.

The class is still in the planning phase but it will be for students in mainstream and special education classes.

  Mary Okeefe