CED products help college students enjoy new tribute garden
A new communal space built at a college in memory of a popular teacher features resin paving and other products from CED Stone.
Three years ago, staff and students at Drumragh Integrated College lost much loved and treasured friend and colleague, English teacher Graham Peters. Now thanks to a communal garden designed by artist and teacher Gerry Bradley, Mr Peters’ words will continue to inspire students.
Business studies teacher, Grant Garden, who led the project, said: “The idea was to create a pleasant, vibrant area for our young people to enjoy and continue to find inspiration from Mr Peters. Through his quotes, future pupils who weren’t fortunate enough to have been taught by him can still draw inspiration from his words for many years to come.”
The school had planned several fundraising initiatives to collect the funds needed to build the garden but due to coronavirus and lockdown, these all had to be cancelled. Gerry came up with an idea to keep things moving.
He explains: “My son, Oscar, is a filmmaker, so I picked his brain on the idea of all staff collaborating on a song, he assured me that it would be no problem for him to manage the technical side. Oscar is a former student of Drumragh and is aware of the high regard that students would have had for Graham, he felt confident that past students would be more than happy to contribute.”
Gerry took the idea to Project Manager, Grant Garden - Head of Business at Drumragh. The proposal was approved by the Board of Governors and a Just Giving campaign was launched with a video of the Drumragh College staff remotely singing popular Beatles hit ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’.
Omagh based Spring Landscapes, a regular and valued customer at the CED Stone Landscape Omagh Depot, was contracted to build the garden. The initial design featured traditional stone paving, however, on meeting with the landscaper, it was decided to use the Daltex Resin product, which immediately triggered some new and more complex design options.
The garden is designed to be a socially interactive area featuring benches and clusters of single seats. At the centre of the garden stands an oak tree which represents the life force that radiates out to all corners of the school. The ray formations in the resin-bound groundworks represent the spread of positive energy. Bright and colourful Merlot and Cornfield Daltex Resin mixes were chosen to give the garden colour and an uplifting mood.
The groundworks also feature a quote ‘You’re not leaving til I see you smile’. One of Mr Peter’s favourite sayings, it demonstrates his warmth, caring and wit. Made from ceramic, the original plan was for local ceramic artist Diane McCormick to conduct workshops at the school for students to help make the letters for the quote. Sadly, lockdown put an end to that idea and Diane made the letters solo in her studio.
Another fitting tribute in the garden is a replica of Mr Peters’ ‘Cool Wall’ which the school preserved from his class. The ‘cool wall’ was a concept Mr Peters borrowed from TV programme Top Gear. The wall had three categories of ‘coolness’ - Cool, Very Cool or Sub-Zero. Students would bring in a picture of a celebrity and the entire class would take part in a debate eventually coming to an agreement on which category the celebrity belonged.
The garden is now complete and is being used by both staff and students after a long and challenging break from school as a place to socialise and reflect. Gerry comments: “The garden has worked out really well, we had a great team working on it and it has been so well received by staff and students. As one colleague said just this week, ‘Every time I pass it, I smile’.”
James Kane, Manager at CED Stone Landscape - Omagh Depot states: “We are very proud to have our products feature so creatively in this project, a most thoughtful tribute to a man who was so beloved by all at the College.”
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More images from this case study here