The Foundation’s mission historically has been to improve the facilities, as much was needed when the old original school building was in use. However, now that we have a new building, we are redirecting some of that purpose to improve the campus grounds by working on the landscaping and the memorial gardens around the building.
Landscaping
The summer of 2021, the Foundation hired a commercial landscaping company to do a refresh on the campus grounds. We hope that the refreshed grounds welcomes everyone starting the 2021-22 school year. It will be an ongoing goal to help keep our grounds looking their best.
Gardens
The Foundation also maintains several gardens, many of which have been installed to celebrate the legacies of wonderful Walton celebrities.
Christine Diaz Garden
The bench and garden to the right of the front entrance, is dedicated to Christina Diaz and it reads “dwell on the beauty of life,” and anyone at Walton High School who knew her, knew that this was truly the way she lived. Through her entire battle with cancer, she demonstrated that cancer was not going to steal her love for life and her positive outlook. She continued to be positive and full of grace, continued to create lasting memories, or, as she put it, continued to feel “the real stuff.”
Cara Seckman Garden
The bench and garden to the left of the front entrance, is dedicated to Cara McKim Seckman and it reads “Class of 2015, Be True to Yourself, Go With the Flow”. The phrases, “Be True to Yourself” and “Go With the Flow” were two of Cara’s favorite sayings. Everyone who had the pleasure of knowing Cara and the honor of calling her a friend understands the meaning of these words. Cara was always true to her beliefs and never went along with the crowd if it was not for something in which she believed. Cara was a competition cheerleader for four years and was awarded the Ideal Cheerleader Award her senior year. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and various other clubs at Walton. Just a few weeks before graduation, Cara became ill. The diagnosis was HLH, a blood cancer that affects young people. Cara was too sick to attend her graduation, but her friends in the class of 2015 left her seat vacant for her and honored her that day. Cara passed away shortly after that. Cara’s friends wanting to leave a lasting impression, raised the funds to build this bench in her honor.
Hugh McLeod Garden
Because the health and well-being of the students at Walton High School was a priority for Hugh McLeod, Leslie and Lauren McLeod decided to create a Legacy Garden for him at Walton. His memorial garden is adjacent to the Dining Hall outdoor seating. It is used by students and staff daily. The white pergola, graceful Japanese maples, flowers and benches provide a beautiful spot for our students to enjoy on a daily basis.
Sculpture Garden
The Sculpture Garden is between the academic building and the front parking lot on a level of the terrace that is accessible from the first floor of the academic building. If you don’t look down from the front parking deck you might miss it completely.
The twenty-one by forty-three-foot open experimentation garden is designed for students’ hands-on exploration of math concepts, vertically integrating across subject areas and facilitating myriad lesson plans. these interactive sculptures, crafted from recycled metal, incorporating pulleys, pendulums, ramps, levers, gyroscopes and pedestals for student art, all built on a concrete layout of the golden rectangle, enable our teachers’ development and delivery of innovative lessons and experiments, facilities student explorations of mathematical principles, as they relate to the fields of art, architecture, science, biology, physics, engineering and technology.
Raider Valley Brick Wall
The Raider Valley Brick Wall celebrates many Walton families who purchased bricks as a lasting tribute to show their support of Walton for many years to come. This brick wall hails the entrance to Raider Valley. The Foundation maintains the flower bed at the base of the wall.
