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Livermore High students and their families have begun revitalizing a green space in memory of late varsity football assistant coach and paraeducator Scott Baswell.
Together they cleared hundreds of pounds of rocks, pulled tall weeds and raked the soon-to-be garden, according to parent volunteer Heather Druba.
They aim to have a sensory garden where students can decompress on campus by the end of the school year, Livermore High vice principal David Martinez said.
“The boys stepped up and did this in his honor, but it’s not just going to stop after one day. There is active planning going in now to continue this for years to come,” Druba said.
Students began working on the Baswell Reflection Garden in September after Druba and another parent of a varsity football student asked LHS leadership for project ideas dedicated to the coach, whose death on July 31 shook the community.
“He really was an instrumental figure in our football program and on campus,” Martinez said of Baswell.
Martinez suggested the students revitalize an overgrown garden on campus, nearby the special education classrooms.
“As I toured it and learned of the location, it was like the stars aligning,” Druba said, recognizing the classrooms as the same ones Baswell worked in.
The main space, about 10 yards wide and 30 yards long, was an “eyesore”, Druba said.
“Years and years ago, before the pandemic, the area was staged with planter boxes and it was a nice space that was clearly used by those students,” Martinez said. “Over the years though, it became overgrown and unmanaged and unkept and ultimately it became unusable.”
After the work on Sept. 7, the area is much closer to becoming a usable garden.
The garden looks the best it has in years, Martinez said. But more work is still to come.
In the near future, students will place new soil and revive the garden’s three planter boxes.
Martinez also envisions a memorial bench dedicated to “Coach Bas” in the garden segment facing East Avenue. And nearby, he sees a picnic table.
Druba and Martinez also want to involve students from the special education classrooms in the project, as they will be the main gardeners.
Yet to be decided are the plants and vegetables that will take root at the garden.
All the operations have been supported by volunteers and donors. One of the key donors was Livermore’s Vineyard Landscaping & Maintenance, which gave supplies like rakes, shovels, weed wackers and bags to the school for its garden.
Martinez hopes donations and volunteers will cover most of the project in the future too.
The next volunteer date is scheduled for Nov. 11, but that day is only open to LHS football players and Young Men’s Service League members.
