The courtyard should be a place for students to go to get a breath of fresh air, however the courtyard in the middle of WHS is not the best place to go in terms of relaxing and looking nice. Cleaning the courtyard is a wonderful idea brought on by the Horticulture class. 

   “The courtyard has been sitting here for years, and it’s not very pretty,” senior horticulture student Nicole Say said.

 She believes that if the courtyard is cleaned up students will go out there more and it can be put to use.

   “Not enough people go in there to take the time to take care of it, people litter,” Say said.

   Say said she is glad the class could do it as a project instead of hiring someone to do it.

 “It’s nice to know that we’re helping the community and the school out,” she said.

   Say said the class plans to pressure wash the sidewalks, fix the gravel, pull all the weeds, clean out the fish ponds, plant flowers and trees, and clean and fix the picnic benches.

   Many students have complained about the courtyard being dirty as they look out the windows.

   Ag teacher Amanda Smith said the project fits well into the horticulture class.      

“Some of the students wondered if they could do it and if we could add some plants and clean it up a little bit while talking about landscaping in class.”

   Horticulture is defined as the art of cultivating plants in gardens to produce food and medicinal ingredients, or for comfort and ornamental purposes. It would give them something to cultivate and maintain for the purpose of the comfort of WHS students.

   Smith believes that the courtyard would make it a more inviting space for staff and students to utilize. 

   The courtyard will be done around next spring. When the courtyard is finished, they plan to keep up routine maintenance and upkeep.