The kids were bustling with excitement as they grabbed the water house and tools to work in their garden.

One student was assigned to dead head the flowers with a small set of garden clippers, while another unrolled the hose to put fresh water in the bird bath and water the fern. Others set out to gather their crop of radishes for lunch and weed the garden, as teacher Helen King sat and watched with great pride.

King, a first-grade teacher at Troy Elementary School, created the garden with the help of her class thanks in part to a $1,400 grant from the Troy City Schools Education Foundation.

“It was something I had been thinking about a number of years, but last year I said ‘it’s now or never.’” King thought about the project during the summer and then wrote her grant application.

The class also sold flower bulbs as a fundraiser to provide extra money for the project. In all, King estimates that the project cost about $2,800.

After she was awarded her grant, King got to work. “All that was growing was grass and red clay,” she said. The first-graders started in September breaking ground of their garden with the help of King’s husband, Jimmy, and volunteers Ray Wright and Randy Tolbert.

“Jimmy built the arbor and tilled the soil and laid the pavers in the finishing area,” King said.

“We even got something planted in the fall,” she said.

Many of the plants in the garden are perennials or things that will reseed themselves.

“We went to Pat’s Petals in Ozark and they helped us select the plants that would attract butterflies,” King said.

The first-graders also enjoyed watching catapillars turn into butterflies in the spring.

“We had good luck with that,” she said.

Another educational exercise that was made possible because of the garden was watching lady bugs develop from larvae. The students then released them into the garden.

As King and her class excitedly discussed their project, she asked her students to share the many types of birds that have been in the garden as a result of the bird feeders and bird bath.

The students one by one raised their hands to give a variety of answers, from finches to hummingbirds to cardinals to those they have yet to identify. The experience has been so exciting that King said students are constantly saying, “Mrs. King, look outside.”

There are 18 students in King’s class, and she describes them as “absolutely unreal.”

“People have just been amazed at how well they have done with the garden,” King said.

She credits that to having a good work ethic handed down from their parents as well as them being quick learners.

“They were taught what to do and how to do it,” King said. Now the students are able to go out in the garden and do things without the assistance of a teacher, she said.

During the year, King said the students have raised and eaten strawberries, turnips, lettuce, carrots and radishes, among other things.

“I was amazed that 16 out of 18 students like turnips,” she said, laughing. Rachel Cooke said her favorite thing she did in the garden was plant flowers.

Edge Branum, who was doing a little weeding Thursday morning said his favorite chore is filling up the bird feeder.

But King’s class is not the only one that has used the garden this year. King said other teachers bring their classes out to work on science projects and reading, as well as math and writing.

“Without that grant I would never have been able to do this project,” King said. “It has exceeded my expectations.” King is retiring after this year, but she plans on coming back to the school and helping the new teacher keep the project going.

But King’s class has left its mark on the project. They did a memory book as well as put their handprints and names on the pavers in the seating area of the garden.

source : www.troymessenger.com