The large, mysterious wooden blocks you’ve seen sitting in the middle of the barren courtyard mark the beginnings of “The Bearscape.”

This project, led by SkillsUSA, will dress up the center of the school with plant life later this semester.

SkillsUSA aims to create seating with benches and wooden blocks and will fill the courtyard with movable planters, as the courtyard will still need to be used for various purposes.

“We’re hoping when it’s done it’s like a park out there,” said SkillsUSA advisor Thomas Washburn. “So kids will be seated; trees will be grown for shading.”

Junior Allie Kench is the mind behind this project.

“We needed ideas. I knew I wanted it to be STEM-related because I’m super STEM-y,” said Kench, who serves as secretary for SkillsUSA, adding that her passion for STEM is what sparked the thought of the design.

“We were bouncing around ideas,” Washburn said in regards to the brainstorming process. “We wanted something different and for it to be fun, something that the student body wanted.”

The topic of environment fits just that.

“Then I thought of those really cool eco-friendly plant things,” said Kench, and after a number of suggestions and collaboration, “The Bearscape” was born.

In deciding on the project, SkillsUSA considered what “The Bearscape” will do for the school.

Kench said the main goal is to provide seating and greenery to help the courtyard gain attraction and use by students.

“For me personally, I don’t wanna spend time in the courtyard because there’s no shade and no seating. I don’t want to sit on concrete; it messes up my jeans, and I’m not about it,” she said.

Washburn said the new courtyard will not only benefit the student body, but also members of SkillsUSA. It will teach them new skills and allow them to reach across and collaborate with other departments.

“The Bearscape” will make the courtyard prettier and more interesting, helping Cambridge stand out from other schools, said Kench.

As Washburn envisioned the scenery of the new courtyard, he said, “Imagine it in the spring, in full bloom, a nice beautiful thing in the middle [of the school].”

SkillsUSA is able to do this project after receiving a grant from Lowe’s hardware, for winning the Chapter of Excellence Program national competition.

Senior Haley Liakakos, a leader in the school’s SkillsUSA chapter, was directly involved in the win that gave the school the grant. 

 “It was such a great feeling knowing that all our hard work paid off,” Liakakos said over email. “Not only that, but our leadership team helped prepare students at Cambridge to become better employees and citizens for the future of America.”

The members of SkillsUSA will be working on this project with the help of the local Lowe’s, and some students in the school’s science department.

Kench said the group will continue to work on the project over the next few weeks.

“I always tell my SkillsUSA kids you always wanna benefit the environment you’re in,” said Washburn. “I think the grant and “The Bearscape” project will show others that SkillsUSA is successful, and we’re doers. We like to make ourselves better in competitions, but we also want to better our school.”