Donation boosts ‘Denny’s Place’

Students from Hope Academy of Public Service are joined by Kathryn Dickinson, president of Hempstead County Master Gardeners, and Master Gardener representatives Nan Wright and Marlon Ward in the presentation by the Master Gardeners of a $1,300 donation to the “Denny’s Place” outdoor classroom/garden project at HAPS. Dr. Carol Ann Duke, principal at HAPS, said the project honors the late Denver L. “Denny” Dickinson, of Guernsey, longtime Hope School Board member and HAPS supporter. HAPS Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) instructor Jacqueline Brady and EAST students Kovell Phillips, Colt Ayers, Jackson Courtland, Cody Clayton, Angelina Soto, and Addison Miley represented HAPS at the ceremony with Duke. – Ken McLemore/Hope Public Schools

HOPE – Hempstead County Master Gardeners gave a boost recently to the “Denny’s Place” outdoor garden and classroom project at Hope Academy of Public Service.
The Hempstead County chapter of the statewide Master Gardener program, a project of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension System, hosted the spring regional Master Gardener Seminar at Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana campus March 26.
Hempstead County Master Gardener President Kathryn Dickinson, along with project mentors Nan Wright and Marlon Ward, presented HAPS Principal Dr. Carol Ann Duke a check for $1,300 to facilitate construction of the project.
The raised bed earth sciences garden will be configured in the shape of the letter “H” and will be part of a classroom unit that will include a covered “outdoor classroom” with two 4×4 storage units as well as benches for student use.
The garden will feature at least six planting spaces which will be surrounded in the total configuration by “paver” stones sponsored by donors to the project. Single “pavers” are $5 each and groups of five may be obtained for $20. The pavers will be painted and marked with the name and business logo of sponsoring donors.
Irrigation plumbing for the gardens has already been planned and a water source established to provide moisture for the gardens.
The outdoor classroom will require gardening tools and implements for students to use in producing selected crops. Donations of tools and implements or funds for their purchase will be accepted. “Vintage” tools and implements will be used to decorate the student space and provide historical insight for students.
“The students want to use the space to provide fresh produce to help ensure that Hope In Action never completely runs out of food, again; as has been the case in the past,” Duke said.
Hope In Action provides foodstuffs for the temporarily indigent.
Duke said the project was in the planning stages when the late Denver L. “Denny” Dickinson, longtime school board member and staunch supporter of HAPS, passed away. She said the overwhelming response was to name the project, to which Dickinson had already contributed time and resources, in his honor.
Wright, Ward, Darla Irby, Kathryn Dickinson and Jan McKinnon have served as co-chairs of the “Denny’s Place” project development for the Master Gardener program.