As Denver’s East High School celebrates its 100th anniversary, a once-forgotten corner of the campus is springing back to life. A long-neglected greenhouse, once filled with broken windows and dead plants, is being transformed by a group of passionate students led by senior Alex, who turned his freshman-year curiosity into a full-fledged revitalization effort.
What began as a personal project has grown into a 30-member Greenhouse Club focused on creating a self-sustaining, hands-on learning environment. With support from alumni like John Olander, who donated garden towers, students are now growing plants, learning leadership and sustainability skills, and preparing to integrate gardening into classroom curriculum.
Their next steps? Selling plants to fund future improvements and expanding garden learning throughout the school.
“This is my passion project,” says Alex. “It’s what I’m leaving behind at East.”