Janel Rowe, Angela Sarango and Karina Gray

Rowe and her colleagues’ innovative teaching idea, “Bright Garden Project,” is designed to transform a barren courtyard within Bright Horizons — a public school for students in kindergarten to age 22 with severe autism, the medically fragile and intellectually disabled — into a handicap accessible sensory/therapy garden. The garden will include an outdoor classroom, sensory gardens, benches, trellises, a glider swing, a sandbox, water features and horticulture. It will also include occupational, physical, behavioral, social/emotional and communication therapy areas. According to Rowe, research indicates that people gain emotional and physical benefits from viewing or being in nature-dominated spaces. Providing therapies in a handicap accessible nature-based setting will benefit the entire student population. Most of the students, due to their exceptionalities, have had little to no exposure to nature. The goal of the project is to provide a stress-free environment where students can work to increase their quality of life through various modalities of successful therapies and unique learning opportunities.