THE ABBEY BANNER - St. John's Abbey

FEATURE
The plaque honoring Paul
Schwietz, OSB, founder of
the Saint John’s Arboretum
Saint John’s Arboretum marks tenth anniversary
by Ryan Kutter
The Arboretum encompasses over 2500 acres including the lakes, woods and prairie
that surrounds the campus, but not the campus itself.
Adecade of dreaming and
planning for an arboretum
at Saint John’s preceded
its 1997 founding that made Paul
Schwietz, OSB (1952-2000), the Paul
Bunyan of tree planting and prairie
burns. Ten years later, monastics,
staff and students continue the work
of maintaining trails, creating educational
experiences and answering
inquiries.
The root of the Saint John’s Arboretum’s
educational outreach has
been the pre-K-12 environmental
curriculum. The program that initially
brought one hundred students to the
area now gives five thousand young
people a hands-on instruction as well
as a marvelous opportunity to wonder
as they wander over the water and
through the woods.
A significant task for the Arboretum
staff is to provide time and place for
high school students to experiment in
this living laboratory. Finding ways to
stabilize student education and transportation
funding has become a high
priority for the Arboretum’s advisory
council and staff. Although a larger
percentage of elementary students
have access through transportation
grants secured by the Arboretum staff,
these funding sources remain tenuous
as the priorities of grant-providers
change.
Another plan of the staff is to make
available a more fully integrated life
of stewardship, incorporating elements
beyond biology, geology and
the traditional sciences of nature
education. For example, collaboration
with the Saint John’s Pottery Studio
The Arboretum
could demonstrate responsible use
of local resources and their artistic
expression. Exposing students to an
insect lesson on the prairie followed
by a study of the butterfly illuminations
of The Saint John’s Bible would
enhance the search for spiritual meaning
in the surrounding creation.
Significant support for the
Arboretum’s flourishing programs
comes from individual and family
memberships. Members receive
the quarterly newsletter, Sagatagan
Seasons, and announcements of programs
such as watercolor classes,
snowshoe hikes and bird watching
sorties. The current membership of
six hundred has surpassed its goal of
five hundred by 2010. Abbey Banner
readers interested in subscribing to an
Arboretum membership should email
The Abbey Banner Fall 2007 page 15