Hope Academy of Public Service

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.\r\n

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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.\r\n

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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. \r\n

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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 4x4 storage units as well as benches for student use. \r\n

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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.\r\n

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Irrigation plumbing for the gardens has already been planned and a water source established to provide moisture for the gardens.\r\n

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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.\r\n

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“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.\r\n

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Hope In Action provides foodstuffs for the temporarily indigent.\r\n

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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.\r\n

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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.\r\n

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Donors to the “Denny’s Place” project to date have included Hempstead County Master Gardeners, McDonald’s of Hope, Hempstead County Title Co., Jarrell Irby D.O., Dennis and Linda Ramsey, Farm Credit Services of Hope, Farmers’ Bank and Trust, Dickinson Memorial, HAPS Principal Dr. Carol Ann Duke, Bank of the Ozarks, First Baptist Church Kitchen Crew, Diana Keith and Jennifer Ferguson, Kiwanis Club of Hope, Civitan Club of Hope, Southwest Arkansas Beekeeping Services, Bruce Ward, Johnson Plumbing, and Hardee Electric.\r\n

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.