By Philip Sean Curran Staff Writer

Where some might have seen an overgrown jungle in the center of South Orange Middle School, one woman saw potential for something great. Karen Hoare, the mother of an eighth-grader at the school, has spearheaded an effort to transform a courtyard at the school into a liv­ing classroom.

The concept behind the project is dubbed “Back to Future,” histo­ry, education and go green. It will look to create a new learning envi­ronment for kids, honor alumni who have come before them and do it an environmentally friendly way. Dead trees will be removed, new benches installed and the land­scaping replaced. Native plants will be installed. There will be a wall and stones on the floor honoring alumni. “It’s extremely exciting,” she said. Her ambitious plan, esti­mated to cost $35,000, seeks to make it a place where pupils can learn about nature in an outdoor but enclosed setting. She reached out to a local architect, William Scerbo, who drew up the initial vision for the project. School officials embraced the concept, although the money would have to come from private sources. Yet the project is not all about bricks and mortar — but about preserving memory, too.

As part of the underlying con­cept, pupils at the school will inter­view alumni to record what the courtyard means to them. The South Orange Historical and Preservation Society got involved to create the online history.

The courtyard project will move in phases, with the goal of having everything accomplished in time during the upcoming school year. Organizers have scheduled an offi­cial opening for November.
In many ways, the project is a grass roots effort. Volunteers are helping to raise money and design the park. On Saturday, some 30 members of the community came out to clean up of the courtyard.
“She’s been out getting people,” said Gregory Burrus, president of the historical society, who is creat­ing the Internet history.

Hoare has been behind past efforts to beautify the middle school, built in 1957.
In 2007, she and Burrus, a father at the school, came up with “Make Your Mark.” Volunteers painted lockers, landscaped the front lawn, drew murals on the second floor and cleaned up the courtyard.
Earlier this year, she thought of a permanent fix for the courtyard, used mainly for a post-graduation reception for eighth-graders.

To learn more about the project or find out how to get involved, log on to www.somsnow.org.

Philip Sean Curran can be reached at 973-763-0700, ext. 110, or at newsrecord@thelocal­source.com.

		Copyright (c)2008 Worrall Community Newspapers, Inc, Edition 06/12/2008