FAIR School Crystal Celebrates New Community Garden
What was once a largely empty space at FAIR School in Crystal is now a vibrant nature area filled with plants, prairie grass and trees.
“We are so excited,” said Zoraba Ross, the principal at FAIR School. “Kids have been waiting for this.”
The project has been three years in the making. The school celebrated its fruition on Thursday.
Students at the school, which serves grades 6-8, helped select many of the plantings and create signage for them too. Students will use the new nature area and garden for outdoor learning. The public is also allowed to access the garden and trails.
The national nonprofit Trust for Public Land partnered with the school and provided much of the funding for the $150,000 project. Funds also came from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
“This is an incredible opportunity to make sure every single student at FAIR School and the broader community here in Crystal/Robbinsdale has access to a great nature rich public space,” said Sophie Vorhoff, Minnesota state director with Trust for Public Land.
The school broke ground on the project last spring.
“We think we have something that our community is going to be proud of. Our district is going to be very proud of as well,” said Ross.
There’s still one more phase of the project to complete. That will happen on the north side of the school.
New trees line a trail by FAIR School in Crystal
