Hope Grows
Greening the Grounds for Climate Resilience:
Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site
at the Andrus Orchard School
by Zeke
Greening the Grounds for Climate Resilience:
Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site
at the Andrus Orchard School
by Zeke
Project Description
With a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, Andrus expanded its Hope Space into a living, youth-built Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site. Students designed, developed, and maintained a rainwater capture and irrigation system, incorporating raised garden beds, pollinator habitat features, and solar-powered watering to connect ecological learning with hands-on stewardship. Under Andrus resident Zeke’s guidance, students and staff worked together to install gutters that capture roof runoff and redirect it to a barrel system; built and filled raised beds; installed solar-powered irrigation; and created habitat elements to support pollinators. Throughout, students debated alternatives (such as gravity pumps) and made design decisions. The project was imbued with joy, curiosity, and teamwork under the mentorship of Andrus Staff member Dr. Argentina.
Outcomes
Skill-building and confidence: Youth acquired hands-on skills in plumbing, carpentry, system design, planting, and solar irrigation, boosting their sense of agency and competence.
Sense of ownership & stewardship: Students now refer to the garden as their space, caring for it daily and advocating for its upkeep.
Collaboration and leadership: The project created space for students to lead, teach peers, manage tasks, and make decisions together.
Therapeutic and emotional benefits: Tending to living plants, observing pollinators, and working outdoors provides grounding, calm, and a connection to living systems.
Educational integration: The garden functions as a dynamic lab for ecology, biology, climate science, and sustainability lessons.
Community visibility & inspiration: The site stands as a demonstration of youth-led ecological action, inspiring visitors, staff, and peers
Sustainability and Next Steps
The Green Team (student leadership) will steward the site, and schedule watering, planting cycles, and maintenance.
The garden will be woven into curriculum and therapeutic programming, ensuring frequent use and relevance.
We will pursue partnerships with local environmental groups, municipal agencies, and gardening networks for technical support, guest workshops, and volunteer collaborations.
We will monitor water usage, plant health, biodiversity (pollinator visits), and student engagement metrics to guide future improvements.
Over time, we plan to expand or replicate this model in other parts of campus or in adjacent community spaces.
Lessons Learned
Scheduling & coordination: Aligning student, staff, and facilities schedules sometimes slowed progress; planning buffer time was essential.
Weather and seasonality: Rain, cold nights, or drought periods required flexibility in planting and irrigation timing.
Technical troubleshooting: Some plumbing connections or solar pump alignments needed iteration and reworking.
Sustainability planning: Ensuring the “Green Team” has stable responsibilities and resources is key to long-term maintenance.
To address these obstacles, we built contingency days, held extra troubleshooting sessions, and recruited facility partners to anchor tasks.
Students Involved
Project Leaders: Zeke, with help from Khareese (both Andrus residents), led the project with official mentoring from Erik Ghalib and help and guidance provided by Dr. Argentina (Andrus staff).
Project Participants: Joel, Payton, Lucas, Pharaoh, Christopher and Mason (Arnwine class); Vanessa, Olivia, Asaiah, Damian, Alere and Jordan (Cassey class); Khristian, Bentley, Dwayne, Jahir, Sincier and Trishana (Chambers class); Destiny, Cavione, Alanni, Derek and Khareese (Kolodziejcuk class); Joseph, Gianni, June, Amber, Eli, John, Joan and Kalvin (Martin class). All of these children, a mix of residents and day enrolled students, participated in the project.
Budget Summary & Financial Report
Expense Category Spent
Rain garden / soil / planting materials: $3,099.03
Solar-powered irrigation / hardware: $ 63.50
Pollinator habitat elements: $1,054.12
Supplies, tools, connectors: $ 390.95
TOTAL: $4,607.25
All receipts across both projects provided separately. Total spend across both projects is $9,030.85, split $4,607.25 on the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site project, and $4,423.60 on Hope Grows Mural & Educational Initiative project.
This section of the garden adjacent to the greenhouse (part of Andrus’s Hope Space), was identified for the location for the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site.
Student participants installing, building and filling the two raised beds as the central feature for the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site.
Planting in the raised beds, and constructing the solar-powered irrigation system that will take captured rainwater and disperse water on a timer to maintain the plants.
Installing the guttering and downpipe to capture the rainwater, and positioning the barrel to store it, before the irrigation system releases the rainwater via a timer, solar powered mechanism.
Thank You's and Reflections
This project was more than infrastructure: it was a bridge between youth agency and ecological resilience. Under their hands, students transformed an underutilized space into a thriving, living ecosystem. Their laughter, debates, and shared pride remain in every plant, drip, and pollinator visit. The experience reinforced that when given trust, guidance, and space, youth can lead climate solutions. Thank you to the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson and Bloomberg Philanthropies for investing in their potential. We look forward to continuing to grow hope – together.