GILL — Children at the Giving Tree Preschool have some new shade this summer, thanks to a community effort and grant funding that allowed the school to build a pavilion for its outdoor classroom, with a living roof.
The project was a group effort by the school, its board, parents and community members. Giving Tree has a certified outdoor classroom and they wanted some sort shade structure to create shade where the children could be outside doing art and other projects when it was raining.
Program Administrator Haley Anderson said the school applied for a grant from the It Takes a Community Foundation based in Greenfield, which granted $10,000 to the school for the project.
Anderson and school founder Betsy Evans said the structure allows for maximum time outside, something they value in the summer and year round.
“It was really what this playground needed,” Anderson said.
The structure was build by Erik VanNetta, who is a parent at the school and owns a construction company.
“Once he got into the idea, he just had a vision,” Evans said of VanNetta, who built the structure to resemble a living tree.
The school applied for the grant in fall of 2016, and received it in January 2017. They spent the winter planning the project and began building in May. It was completed ahead of the school’s summer program in the first week of June.
The living roof itself has purpose — to help prevent stormwater runoff. The plants on the living roof are drought resistant, and include sedums, creeping thyme and coreopsis.
Evans and Anderson said the children held a vote, and despite some wacky names, they ended up selecting “The Tree House” as the name for the structure.
“Bring that our name is Giving Tree, it’s really become the center of the space,” Evans said.
Evans said that the project had a lot of help from its community of board members and parents who, she said, are very active in the school.
The pavilion will be used by performers during the school’s 40th anniversary celebration on Oct. 14 as well. The event is a gathering for families, alumni and a teacher appreciation event. For more information about the school, visit givingtreeschool.org.
Reach Miranda Davis at
413-772-0261, ext. 280 or
mdavis@recorder.com.