Congressman Jim McGovern visited the Serenity Garden Thursday May 28, touring the plots of produce and meeting with the students who made the garden possible.
McGovern advocates for better nutrition for students and in schools, and for gardens to be implemented in every American school.
“It’s good to come here to see how you did [with the garden],” McGovern said, “so I can use you as a model and get others to replicate what you have done here.”
McGovern heard about the garden from senior Ian Rizzitano, an active environmentalist who tends the garden in his free time. Rizzitano became acquainted with McGovern on a trip to D.C., and since their meeting he has expanded the garden with the help of fellow students and volunteers.
“[He] was at a Climate Change Summit at the White House a couple of months ago and Congressman McGovern was so hospitable, showing [him] around,” Nutrition teacher Susan Halpin said, “and they made this connection and he promised he would come back before [he] graduates.”
“We tried to make as many connections to different community organizations as we could,” Rizzitano said. “The more the community involvement, the better the garden.”
Much of the work can be attributed to Josh Richardson, Serenity Garden coordinator, Nancy Vargas, president of the Southborough Gardener’s Club, and Zybsia Giegutcz, Instructional Support Aid and team member. Giegutcz has devoted many hours on vacations and weekends to making sure the garden looked its best. After seeing such hard at work in the garden, Vargas recruited the group to help at her own gardens.
“[Josh]has a background in landscape design and botany,” Halpin said, “and I really feel like he helped us turn this around so it’s looking much more professional than when you saw it six years ago. We have a wonderful team here.”
The group’s work impressed McGovern, who hopes to spread Algonquin’s excitement for local agriculture to different facilities across the country.
“[One] thing I value about this school is that you have a course on nutrition,” McGovern said. “I wish more medical schools would concentrate on nutrition, because food is medicine.”
“Every school should have a garden,” McGovern said. “Every college should have a garden. All of our hospitals should have gardens, too…I think gardens give you a better appreciation of the importance of food and how it’s grown.”