Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Center High School Greenhouse Kansas City

Center High School, with the help of volunteers, recently got together and decided to turn an abandoned greenhouse that sat decaying behind the school for years into a functioning greenhouse where the children can learn about horticulture and the human experience with plant life. The greenhouse is a great project as most students at the urban Center High School will benefit from participating in something besides playing X Box, eating McDonald's and listening to nasty rap music.

Center School District principal Elizabeth Heide and outside volunteer Durwin Rice began making arrangements 4 years ago to restore the old abandoned greenhouse when they were working together on the Tulips on Troost Project. The Tulips on Troost Project is a community participation project that plants tulips along Troost, a street in Kansas City that is deep in the ghetto and desperately needs some polishing, and this organization has plans to plant one million tulips along the urban street. The project has made excellent progress and now it has led to another great project with the greenhouse at Center High School.

Once a prominent high school in Kansas City, Center High School is now a completely urban, primarily minority attended school. Despite what most people thought initially, Center High School is NOT part of the failing and discredited Kansas City School District, it just resembles the schools in the Kansas City School District when you look at it's student body. Center High School was a quality high school from the time it opened until about 1989. During it's glory days, Center High School drew students from the wealthy upper middle class who resided in Red Bridge, Bridlespur, and even Sante Fe Hills when it used to be a good neighborhood. Paralleled by the decline of these neighborhoods as the ghetto slowly moved it's way south and west, Center High School soon began to look like Central High School and since 1989 it has been primarily an urban, lower class school.

This greenhouse will give the students at Center High School a chance to learn about plant life and how it affects humans and the Earth as a whole, as current economic crisis have prompted many of the world's innovative leaders to start projects that lead American consumers away from the processed foods and "getting back to the farm" by encouraging more Americans to eat more "live" foods that come from local farms and to stay away from the processed foods and fast food that has made our country extremely obese and unhealthy.

To assist in the greenhouse project at Center High School, contact principal Elizabeth Heide for more information.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Center High School did used to be a good school. I'm class of 1988 and back then it was a safe and fun school to attend.

Anonymous said...

Center High School Yellowjackets! Class of 1985 representing!

Anonymous said...

Oh well, hey at least Center High School didn't lose their accreditation!

Rebecca Adamson said...

I take issue with a few things in the article. There seem to be several strong opinions being passed as facts. As lifelong resident of Kansas City, who owns several properties on Troost, lives in Sante Fe Hills AND has put several children through school at Center High School (one graduated just last year ) - I take strong issue with this article. First, Troost is not "deep in the ghetto". But someone who thinks Santa Fe Hills "used" to be a good neighborhood must think every neighborhood east of State Line is in the ghetto. Large sections of Troost "need polishing", yes, but ghetto? Seriously? You obviously haven't visited a real ghetto. Second, I'm thrilled Center HS has revived the old greenhouse. But, you talk as if the school - and the District - are hardly worth attending anymore. My family absolutely LOVES Center, and the diversity of the student body is one MAJOR reason my children were proud to attend. Why raise a white child in an all-white school? The world is not all one color, and we're suppose to be preparing them for the real world. That the student demographic is largely minority DOES NOT make a school bad, unsafe, or undesirable. Since 1989, you say the school has been a primarily urban, lower-class school. What's wrong with urban? And a lower economic class student body does not mean lower class education. Principal Heide is outstanding, as is the entire administration and faculty. My students received an excellent education, from teachers who really care, and are devoted to their art. They made wonderful, respectful and kind friends. They never felt unsafe at school. They were treated with respect by the administration. They had a wealth of extra curricular activities to choose from. The size of the student body was neither too large nor too small, in my opinion. It was the perfect mix of small town school in an active, positive urban environment. While I am happy to see Tulips on Troost working with Center High School to bring the old greenhouse back into bloom, I think this article does a terrible injustice to the entire Center District, all the wonderful projects happening along the Troost corridor, and to Kansas City in general.

Rebecca Adamson said...

I've overlooked the tongue-in-cheek nature of the article. But... my comment still stands :)

Anonymous said...

While I agree that Center High School has been declining in class in direct proportion to the neighborhoods that surround it, I have to agree with this article as it tells the truth. Some parents like to send their children to a diverse school, although I think that Center High transcends "adversity", it's more like the white kids are the minority in this case. Potential for interracial dating, etc. Not good if you have a white daughter.

Anonymous said...

Center High School was a good school when I attended back in 1986. What a great generation, we had the music, the movies and the style. These kids now days are so diluted and clueless and aimless, they have nothing to call their own because everything good has already been done.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Center High School in Kansas City was a really good school when I attended back in 1984. But then again, the 80's were just plain great anyway. Today's kids are just plastic little robots walking around in a daze on medication and mesmerized by anything with a little lighted screen. Can't even look you in the eye and give a firm handshake. Sad.

Anonymous said...

Go Yellowjackets! Center is probably not the school that it used to be, but we sure had fun back in the old days. Who was in Mr. Creamer's ceramics class?

redman said...

shittay writing style,,,,yo, center, rep that MARLBOROUGH, charlie brown knows wats up south kc hickman mills/prospect,

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