As a retired educator from Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy, I have followed very closely the discussions involving the proposed rebuilding of Enota. I have attended one school board meeting hoping to hear something encouraging, particularly concerning the outside learning garden on the campus. Unfortunately that did not happen.

I have a very vested interest in this facility, since I began attending when Enota was a year old and had two children attend as well as three siblings. Enota has been a very special place to thousands. I was also blessed to have ended a career as the media specialist at this first rate school.

I was employed when the Smartville Garden concept was begun. From that beginning until today, I have watched something special transpire that not everyone in our community has yet had the privilege of experiencing. This garden is not a typical flower garden. I need not go into the educational benefits of this outdoor treasure.

I would like to stress the uniqueness of the variety of plants, flowers, and trees that very few have seen. The underground irrigation system that uses saved rain water is a phenomenon on its own. Thousands of loving man hours as well as thousands of dollars have been dedicated to this at no expense to the school system.

This isn’t about Enota only, but the entire community. We actually have our very own botanical garden within free and easy access to anyone with a feel for nature and the unusual. It can not be replicated or saved in any way by digging up or re-potting after eight years of growth. People need to only walk through one time to see what the fuss is all about.

The faculty and staff at Enota have always been, are, and will always be top notch. Yes, they are housed in an old building 62 years old. That in no way diminishes caring, learning or safety to one child. There is still tremendous education going on within those hallowed walls. Old buildings don’t stop that. I am very disappointed the school superintendent feels differently.

My hope is that the Gainesville City School System slows down, takes another look and finds a better solution to the one now being proposed. E-SPLOST money will not disappear until something else is placed on the table. The school board needs to work together, not separately to come up with something better. Spending time worrying about when the public can speak at meetings or when a board member can visit a school should be at the bottom of anyone’s concern.

I urge them to place their concerns on the needs and wishes of this faculty, students, parents, and community. This is our community, and many Enota graduates have been a part of it their entire lives.

Andrea Gilbert
Retired Media Specialist, Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy

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