Another favorite attraction was a hop-skip-run along the garden’s stepping stones, each denoted by a letter in the alphabet.
“They like standing on a stone, like the letter C, and they’ll start saying words that start with C,” said Sam Marnell, a parent and one of the organizers who created the garden.
The new garden took more than $2,000 of parent and school foundation money, and more than 40 hours of labor by school moms and dads, they said.
“It’s now the nicest and shadiest part of the play area,” said Bret Marnell, Sam’s husband. “You can see, they feel a sense of ownership of it.”
The garden replaces a stretch of land that was off limits to students. Ivy covered the space, and it was full of spider webs, Principal Cynthia McCarty said.
“Now on any day, they are reading and playing, and it’s just allowed so much more play area for the kids,” she said.
The garden project began when kindergartner Owen Hoppert wrote a letter to school administrators asking for more play space. That got the ball rolling, Owen’s mom, Jennifer Hoppert, said.
“Do you know how hard it is to work with cement and kindergartners at the same time?” she said. “This has never been done before, and the kids are all so excited. They feel this is a special event.”
Students celebrated Earth Day by planting wildflowers in pots they had decorated during class. Each class is also working on a vegetable garden on campus, part of an academic unit about plants, said Kristin Frakes, a kindergarten teacher.
“They look for seedlings; they’ve watered seeds; they’ve planted seeds; and we taught them about composting,” she said.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are also a central part in lessons plans, and Lala Isabella, a kindergartner, got the message.
“I’m learning to pick up trash,” she said.
The garden is complete with decorative animals and a bench, allowing teachers to take classes outside on sunny days.
“It helps them learn and identify their letters,” said Rose Newman, a teacher. “It’s a great place to read, and the kids love it.”
