Babcock Mill Reading Garden Project
Loyalist Township
Role: Dan Hendry (Climate Action Coordinator, Loyalist Township)
Year: During tenure, 2020
Photos provided by: Loyalist Township
In my role as Climate Action Coordinator with Loyalist Township, I worked with No.9, a charitable organization that delivers the Imagine My Sustainable Community program, to support a three‑day project with students at Odessa Public School. The program invited students to examine their own neighbourhood through a sustainability lens and to think critically about how local spaces could be improved.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Photos provided by: Loyalist Township
As part of the project, students walked through their community in Odessa and identified Babcock Mill Park as a place where they could apply what they had learned. Back in the classroom, they developed ideas, built dioramas, and prepared presentations that outlined their vision for improving the park. One idea emerged particularly strongly through this process: the creation of a Reading Garden as a space for learning, reflection, and community use.
At the same time, Loyalist Township’s engineering team was planning infrastructure work in the area related to water and road projects. This overlap created an opportunity to explore whether the students’ ideas could be integrated into existing municipal plans. My role focused on supporting communication, coordination, media, and press releases, as well as organizing across the school and the municipality. Internally, I worked to align departments and timelines to determine whether the students’ proposal could move forward.
The work evolved into a two‑part project. On one side, I supported No.9 in delivering the Imagine My Sustainable Community program within the school. On the other, I worked through internal municipal processes to explore how a youth-generated idea could be translated into action. This process led to students presenting their proposal directly to Loyalist Township Council, where they explained why they believed the Reading Garden would be a valuable addition to the community. Council approved the proposal.
As a result, a Reading Garden was built at Babcock Mill Park. The project demonstrated how youth-led ideas, when supported through coordination and collaboration between schools, community organizations, and municipal departments, can be transformed into tangible and lasting community outcomes.
Related Links & Media: https://engage.loyalist.ca/babcock-mill-reading-garden