Earth Day Is Every Day at Beechwood: The ARK Gives Nature a Place to Return to in Mountainside

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Behind Beechwood Elementary School, a quiet patch of land is becoming something more than a garden.It is a place where children can look closely, ask questions, follow a path, notice what is growing, and begin to understand that nature is not something far away. It is right here — in the insects, birds, flowers, foxes, squirrels, deer, and other wildlife that share the same community.The area is called the ARK, which stands for Acts of Restorative Kindness. The Beechwood ARK is part of the school’s PTO Green Initiative, a parent-led effort focused on environmental awareness, sustainability, outdoor education, and helping children connect more deeply with the natural world around them.The initiative is co-chaired by Mountainside parents Anisa Peters, Pranathi Aedla-Pandya and Jennifer Schiffl, who have each helped bring different parts of the effort to life.Inspired by a Global MovementThe ARK concept began with Irish landscape designer and environmental advocate Mary Reynolds, founder of the global “We Are The ARK” movement. Reynolds was featured in Wild Hope, a PBS series that shares stories of people working to restore nature and protect biodiversity.For Peters, who worked as a producer on Wild Hope, the episode was more than an assignment. It became an inspiration.Through the series, Peters learned about Reynolds’ idea of shifting from being gardeners to becoming guardians of the land. The message stayed with her: rather than treating every patch of earth as something to control, people can give some of it back to nature.Peters first tried the idea at home, creating an ARK in her own backyard. After seeing how a small area could begin to change, she started thinking about what the concept could mean for Beechwood.“I always say, I was inspired, and I hope other people get inspired to do something in their backyard,” Peters expressed. “We can all do something. It doesn’t have to be on a global scale. Local efforts pay off big.”A PTO Green Initiative Takes RootAt Beechwood, the ARK became part of the PTO Green Initiative, which has grown from a recycling and reuse effort into a broader environmental education program.Aedla-Pandya said she became involved in 2019, when the initiative focused on keeping materials out of landfills by collecting LEGO bricks, used markers, and reusable items.Over time, Aedla-Pandya said, the work expanded beyond waste reduction to help students understand how everyday choices affect the environment.“It is about reducing waste and recycling, so less waste goes into landfills,” she said. “But it is also about teaching kids to foster a connection to nature and have a better understanding of it.”That mission made the ARK a natural next step. After Peters learned about the movement through PBS’s Wild Hope and introduced the idea, the Green Initiative expanded into hands-on outdoor education.“When Anisa brought the inspiration of the ARK and pitched it,” Aedla-Pandya said. “We all thought, yes, let’s go beyond recycling and do more. Let’s show people how a simple choice can benefit the environment.”The Beechwood ARK now lets students connect those lessons directly to the natural world.A School Partnership Makes the ARK PossibleThe Beechwood ARK began in 2024 after Principal Jessica Vierschilling dedicated a portion of school property behind Beechwood for the project, helping move the idea from concept to reality.With the school’s support, the PTO Green Initiative began transforming the area into an outdoor classroom for students. Parent volunteers came with shovels and began removing sections of long-established grass. Eventually, landscapers helped clear more of the site, allowing the group to begin restoring the land with native wildflower seeds sourced for northern New Jersey.For Vierschilling, the ARK has become more than an environmental project. It is a living classroom, giving children a chance to observe nature directly on school grounds while also seeing collaboration in action.“At Beechwood School, we were thrilled to learn about the concept of an A.R.K. and to ‘re-wild’ a portion of our property into a vibrant A.R.K.,” Vierschilling said. “This unique outdoor learning space teaches our students about native species and environmental stewardship. It also serves as a model for teamwork. The A.R.K. has come to life through the collaborative efforts and vision of the PTO’s Green Initiative, parent volunteers, and local Scouting troops. As a result, the project has truly taken root as a permanent fixture of our school.”From Manicured Lawn to Living HabitatUnlike a traditional manicured garden, the ARK is meant to feel wilder. Its purpose is not to control nature, but to allow native plants and wildlife to return.“It is a purposeful space,” Peters said. “It is not that we don’t care about the land. It is that we do care. This is what we are doing to help restore biodiversity.”That distinction is important, she said, because people are often taught to see neat lawns as a sign of care. The ARK asks families to look at land differently — not only as something to maintain, but as something to protect.The Beechwood school garden grows food for people. The ARK, Peters explains to students, helps grow food and shelter for the animals and insects that live nearby.Students Learn by Walking On The Wild Side This year, students are scheduled to visit the ARK twice in May, giving them the opportunity to walk through the space, observe what is growing, and learn about the role native plants play in supporting wildlife.During the visits, students use scavenger hunt-style materials to identify native plants and invasive species. The lessons are designed for young learners, introducing them to basic ideas about ecosystems, habitats, pollinators, and the connection between plants, insects, birds and animals.For Schiffl, the ARK gives children a meaningful way to experience nature directly.“The ARK offers all who visit a beautiful opportunity to observe Mountainside’s natural habitat the way it was meant to be,” Schiffl said. “It demonstrates how working together is important. It is a truly immersive experience, heightening a child’s senses and wonder.”Girl Scouts, Daisies and Community Volunteers Add Their HandsThe ARK has also grown through the work of local Girl Scouts and younger students.Schiffl helped coordinate the Girl Scout effort to create a “bird condo,” with birdhouses designed to encourage nesting and provide habitat for local birds.“Birds, insects, and all of nature’s creatures need a place to stay,” Schiffl said. “The birdhouses were a fun and colorful activity for the Girl Scouts to work on. Together, they earned a badge for beautifying their community and built lasting memories along the way.”More recently, a Daisy troop helped clean up the ARK. Schiffl said the girls were eager to learn and excited to help care for the area. To make the lesson age-appropriate, invasive plants were described as “bully” plants, and the Daisies worked to remove the “bullies” from the garden.“I hope they learned that gardening can be fun and rewarding,” Schiffl said. “I also hope they learned why and how important it is to keep our Earth clean.”Their work adds another layer to the ARK’s impact. It is not the work of one person, one class or one group. It is becoming a shared effort shaped by parents, students, Scouts, teachers, school leaders and volunteers.Older Students Help Younger Students LearnThe ARK has also become a growing educational tool beyond Beechwood. Students from Deerfield School’s Eco Club, led by science teacher Taylor Dayan, researched and designed informational signs for the area.The signs will help younger learners understand what they are seeing when they visit, including native plants, pollinators, insects and local wildlife. For Dayan, the work also gives older students a chance to model environmental leadership for younger children in their district.“Our Ecology Club members serve as role models for younger students by teaching them that we can all work together as a community to educate others about the benefits of native species and the harms of invasive species,” Dayan said. “Having a natural area where native species can thrive provides an excellent learning opportunity about the wildlife we seldom notice while going about our daily lives!”Wildlife Returns to the ARKThat lesson became even more meaningful when trail cameras installed through the project’s budget began capturing activity around the ARK. Over the winter, the cameras recorded foxes, raccoons, deer, coyotes and other local animals moving through the area.For Peters, that footage helped confirm what the project hoped to prove. “This actually works,” she said. “You don’t always know what is happening when you are not watching, but now we can actually see it.”The footage has also created new educational opportunities. Students can begin to understand that the ARK is not simply a patch of plants, but a habitat being used by the animals living around them.Small Acts, Lasting ImpactPeters hopes the ARK encourages families to think about what they can do at home, whether it is planting native wildflowers, creating a small habitat or simply allowing part of a yard to grow in a more natural way.“It can be paralyzing to think about the loss of species everywhere,” Peters said. “But this starts at home.”And in Mountainside, it has started behind Beechwood School, where a once-ordinary patch of grass is becoming a living classroom — and a reminder that Earth Day is not only one day on the calendar.It is something a community can practice, hand to hand, patch by patch.What’s Next for the ARK?The story of Beechwood’s ARK does not end here. Stay tuned for TAPinto Mountainside’s follow-up feature on Lawrence Worth, a local Boy Scout working toward the rank of Eagle Scout. His project is helping restore and enhance the ARK so it can continue growing as a living classroom for students and a welcoming habitat for local wildlife.