From renovating the Senior Courtyard to growing a variety of fresh plants, York’s Garden Club is doing it all.

Last week, the club held a competition to see which teacher had the largest measurements for the classroom plants Garden Club previously provided. The teacher with the largest measurements of each of the three plants will receive a special prize in the first weeks of the second semester.

The winners for the first-ever measurable growth contest for this semester were Mr. Carrillo in the Inch plant class with a 243.75 percent growth, Ms. Parrini in the Pothos class with a 350 percent growth, and Mr. Laurich in the Spider class with a 200 percent growth, according to Garden Club.

Yet they weren’t the only teachers to have an incredible growth rate, the average for all of the participating teachers was 153.35 percent. With such overwhelming results, Garden Club plans to have another contest next year.

“[We wanted to] let teachers and students experience the joy of growing things and experiment for optimal growth,” said Andrew Bendelow, Garden Club Adviser and English teacher.

The competition between classroom plants began back in August with over 40 participating teachers and a group of ambitious Garden Club members.

“[Our goal is to] improve indoor air quality while making the classroom more aesthetically pleasing and relaxing to students,” said Bendelow.

Not only did Garden Club want to encourage a healthy classroom environment, but they also wanted to promote the club’s values.

“We’re trying to get people more informed about Garden Club,” said Garden Club member Kaitlyn Novy, senior. “We really want to make Garden Club a part of the whole school [rather than] just a school club.”

The members of Garden Club originally came up with the idea and expressed their enjoyment of preparing and picking out the plants for the teachers.

“It was so much fun cutting off the shoots and forming them into different groups,” said Novy. “We made a lot of the plants [through this method].”

The club came up with three different types of plants that required minimal sunshine and watering– perfect for the typical classroom atmosphere.

The three plants consisted of Chlorophytum comosum (common name: Spider plant), Epipremnum aureum (common name: Pothos), and Zebrina Pendula (common name: Inch plant).

With a unique idea and a diverse set of plants, teachers from different departments took part in the activity. The majority of teachers took a liking to their classroom plant.

“It’s a superb idea,” said French teacher Lindsey Wyffels, who happens to have the Pothos plant. “I love the plants–they’re great.”

After Garden Club awards a special prize to a teacher of each plant category, members will have more in store for second semester and beyond.

“We want to add a handicap walkway and include an outdoor chalkboard in the Senior Courtyard,” said Novy.

As they seek new ways to improve York, Garden Club is continuously welcoming new members. They meet Wednesdays after school in room A373. If you have any more questions regarding the club, contact YCHS Garden Club at [email protected].