Students, community green-up PHS with gardens, trees

PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh High School students, staff, faculty and the community came together June 1 and 2 to plant 18 trees and seven garden plots around the high school campus.

Bransen Fitzwater and Delaney Mulholland, graduating PHS seniors, wanted to make a difference at their school before they go to college.

The two saw the school’s neglected gardens as the perfect opportunity to leave their mark.

“We are redoing the school gardens. They’ve been neglected for, probably 10 years, more?” Fitzwater said.

“We really wanted to make a difference, to do something special,” Mulholland added.

According to the seniors, Fitzwater was the driving force behind this project, but he couldn’t do it alone. Mulholland aided with advertising the event and communicating with local businesses to procure plants, trees and other supplies like natural-wood mulch.

“We want this to last beyond us,” Mulholland said.

According to Mulholland, the original plan to acquire mulch for the garden fell through at the last minute, which threw a wrench into the works of the whole project.

“Kravitz Landscaping donated two giant piles of mulch last minute,” she said.

The two-day effort was taken on by PHS students and their families, teachers, school staff and even students from other districts.

“I think when you see someone helping, or doing something good, it can get a lot of positive feedback. But you need that first person to get the ball rolling,” Fitzwater said.

“I think we are being that first person here,” he said.

Efforts began in September 2023 when Fitzwater began communicating with the SUNY Plattsburgh Botany and Horticulture clubs.

Dr. Mark Lesser, associate professor of environmental science at SUNY Plattsburgh, met with Fitzwater to advise where and what flora should be planted in and around the high school.

“Dr. Lesser surveyed the area with Bransen and gave him advice on the types of trees and plants that would survive the best here,” said Sonal Patel-Dame, PHS science teacher.

“A lot of time has gone into this project.”

Native trees and plants were chosen for this project to ensure the gardens longevity and to avoid ecological competition while promoting habitats for animals and insects.

“They chose all native trees and plants so they won’t out-compete and will provide new habitats,” Patel-Dame said.

According to Patel-Dame, the effort her students put into this project was “awesome” to see, most, being seniors, won’t be able to “reap the benefits,” but did not let that stop them.

“I mean they are seniors, they are graduating in about three weeks, but they are still out here using their time and energy to do this,” she said.

Two underclass students, Bennett Dedominicas and Abby Henley, who are members of the science club have already taken on the role to upkeep the new gardens.

“We are in the science club and we’re hoping to get more underclass students into it,” Hanley said.

The two both agreed that the hands-on planting and watching the garden come together was their favorite part.

“The planting is my favorite, seeing it all come together,” Dedominicas said.

Fitzwater and Mulholland recently took third place in the New York State Science Olympiad for a study in forestry, more specifically, dendrology or the study of trees.

The two studied and recorded 170 different species of trees, which took approximately 250 hours of work.

Fitzwater will be joining the Cornell University class of 2028 and Mulholland, the Stanford University class of 2028; both will be studying environmental science.

Other PHS Green Up supporters include Kravitz Landscaping, for the mulch; Northern Insuring, Glens Falls National Bank, UFirst Credit Union and the SUNY Plattsburgh Horticulture Club.

“I would like to give a special thanks to the Plattsburgh School District for being so supportive, Superintendent Lebrun and a member of our maintenance staff, Joe Leonard,” Patel-Dame said.