Briarcliff MS Greenhouse Club Gets Hands-On

Academia, named for ancient Greece's setting for well-known philosophers like Plato, is a somewhat hidden, but impressive "outdoor classroom" utilized by Briarcliff Middle School students.

Built five years ago using a Briarcliff Manor Education (BMEF) grant, Academia was opened to the public for the first time on Sunday as part of the BMEF Open Greenhouse Day at Academia.

The space, which overlooks the campus' track and athletic field, used to be just a grassy knoll with a single bench that students could see while walking the hallway that connects the seventh and eighth grade classrooms.

"We realized that it's a central point of so many classrooms," explained Robert Iovino, a science teacher and faculty advisor to the Greenhouse Club. "It's really an idea to offset the digital age that they are in and give it a little more of a yin and a yang to the amount of time that they spend in front of a screen."

Sunday's events, which in addition to student-led tours of Academia and the middle school's own indoor greenhouse, also funded by the BMEF, included several activities in the middle school hallways.

A number of the Greenhouse Club's 20 or so members welcomed younger students and their families to the event and guided them through activities like planting marigolds, mixing up smoothies and tasting lettuce.

Click here to check out videos of Greenhouse Club members leading demonstrations.

Eighth grader Aidan Bohan, for example, demonstrated composting using live worms and leftover food.

"Composting is better than throwing stuff out because you can actually reuse all the food that you throw away," he explained. "You can have your own kind of fertilizer."

Iovino described the "great energy" and enthusiasm the Greenhouse Club students have for their work.

For sixth grader Nick Sama, the day was about sharing that excitement with younger students.

"It's fun and you get to help people out a lot," he said. "You get to grow different plants, which is also really cool."

The day also included tours of the middle school's greenhouse, founded in 2006, which give students a place to decompress during a stressful school day and help maintain the variety of plants growing in the space.

"With all the testing and everything else, this is a way for kids to relax and enjoy learning for the sake of learning," said Iovino.