Chris Stillman, Lee Russell, Marc Marron, and Donnie Alger pictured with the award from the Hill & Valley Garden Club.
The Sidney Central School District was honored recently by the Hill & Valley Garden Club of Sidney for the beautification of the school grounds.
SCSD was given the Green Thumb Award for September 2015.
“They basically said they noticed the change at the school and how nice it’s been looking,” said Building Custodian Chris Stillman.
The award said:
The time and care you have given to beautifying the grounds of our community school campus results in a lovely reflection in our community.
Over the past couple of years, the school has worked on the look of the school and Stillman and fellow Building Custodian Donnie Alger said much of the credit should go to the duo of Marc Marron and Lee Russell, who handle the bulk of the outdoor work at the school. Alger and Stillman are the supervisors to Marron and Russell.
“I don’t have to babysit them,” Alger said. “They are out there getting the job done. They take time to get it right and they work well together.”
During the summer, Marron and Russell worked hard to get everything looking spotless. They also handle mowing duties and keep things in tip-top shape.
Alger noted that one thing the two did was to work on the shrubs out front of the school by removing the wood chips, followed by cutting out the underneath some and putting in mulch, which gives everything a cleaner look.
“We both try and go above and beyond,” Marron said. “When people from the outside walk around, if it looks good or bad, it reflects on us. We work to make sure it looks crisp and up to the standards it should be.”
The two have been working together for a bit more than three years. They also noted they get the support needed from Alger and Stillman and they will pick the brains of Stillman, who has a background in landscaping.
“The hard work paid off and people notice,” Russell said. “We’ve been working on it for a long time to get (the grounds) up to snuff.”
All four also pointed out that Superintendent Bill Christensen and Assistant Superintendent Corey Green played a key role in being able to update the school’s equipment. That has helped the efficiency and given the crew the freedom to work on other things.