Improvements to Michael Lisnow Bird Garden at Pine Hill Elementary School
My Eagle Scout service project involves improvements to the Michael Lisnow Bird Garden at my local elementary school, Pine Hill School. The Michael Lisnow Bird Garden is a garden at my local elementary school, where students and classes sometimes spend their time, dedicated to a former student who had passed away. My project included two specific improvements. The first was inputting a set of stairs onto a steep and rocky hill to make the upper part of the garden more accessible to the students. The second was replacing the sign for the garden in the front of the school as the old one was in disrepair. This project was funded by the town of Sherborn Massachusetts.
The Stairs
The image on the right shows the hill to the upper part of the garden with the new stairs that I put in to increase accessibility. I put in six stairs. The stairs were spaced out according to the steepness of the hill with less spacing between the stairs on the upper, steeper part of the hill. The stairs were made from old railroad ties that a friend of mine helped me cut down to proper length. Holes the size of the railroad ties were first dug into the ground. after that, I drilled holes through the ties themselves to allow for a nail to be put through. Finally, I put the railroad ties into the ground, drove foot-long spikes through the ties into the ground, then filled in the area around the ties with dirt.
The New Sign
On the left you can see the new sign that I input for the bird garden at the school entrance. The sign was made out of a durable metal to ensure it would not be easily damaged by the elements. I put in the sign by digging two holes that were each a few feet deep. I then put the sign posts into the holes and cemented them down. I ensured the cement would not come out by making sure to make the diameter of the holes increase with the depth of the holes so that the cement would be hled in place in the ground.
This project would not have been possible without the help of many individuals who graciously took time out of their lives to help me with the construction. I would like to thank my friends and fellow eagle scouts Hunter Gregory and Justin Sullivan, who helped me tremendously during the construction. I would also like to thank Scott Sirri and the Sirri family for helping me plan and construct this project as well as doing his own improvements to the bird garden for his eagle project. I would also like to thank my parents, Boy Scout Troop 1 of Sherborn, and the town of Sherborn for all their help in making this project possible and enjoyable. Finally, I would like to thank Pine Hill School for trusting me with the improvements of this special area.
Below is a gallery of more pictures from this project including the construction and those who helped me complete it.
