A medicine garden that was part of students’ learning about Indigenous culture at JR Henderson Public School in the west end of Kingston, Ont., was vandalized over the Canada Day long weekend.
The rocks and the cedar planters made by the public school’s Grade 8 class are about all that is salvageable after the act of vandalism.
School principal Shauna Peart says she discovered the damage on Sunday.
“We get graffiti in the summer but I was really shocked that somebody would tip over and uproot something that clearly had been planted by children and was just in the beginning stages of growing,” Peart said.
The planters, plants and soil were all overturned, destroying the work of the students at the school.
The medicine garden had sweet grass and sage growing in it and was part of the school curriculum to learn about Indigenous culture.
“We had our Indigenous knowledge keepers come and do a planting ceremony with us and the goal was to continue the watering in the summer. We had a team that was going to water the plants and then continue our learning in the fall.”
Peart says they will regroup and replant but replacing the plants that were lost could cost at least $500. If the soil and planters can’t be salvaged that cost could more than triple.
This is the latest act of vandalism at a Limestone District School Board School.
In June five schools in the school board saw Pride flags stolen and vandalized. At Polson Park Public School a number of swastikas were painted on the walls of portables and the main building.
Limestone District School Board director of education Krishna Burra told Global News last month that acts of vandalism at schools are taken very seriously and police reports are filed.
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