Thursday, May 16, 2013

Service Learning, Part 1

With less than a month to go, my students have been bombarded with special events and projects. One of our all time favorite projects is growing flowers in our Life Lab. Our award winning life lab was one of the first at an elementary school. It houses plants, a pond and stream, a butterfly house, and numerous animals. Every spring the students get flower plugs to plant. They grow a flower for every student's mother for Mother's Day. We also grow flowers that are transplanted downtown.

Last Friday was our Downtown Planting Day. Our Downtown Development Authority pays for the plants and dirt. Our fifth graders then plant them in decorative pots and urns throughout the downtown area. This year's plants are an ornamental grass, yellow coreopsis, and a purple wave petunia. The purple and gold theme is a favorite, since it reflects our school colors. To show their appreciation, two restaurants that overlook the planters gave students discount coupons. The students were eager to eat at the restaurant, and the restaurant owners are pleased with the way their businesses will look with the flowers in bloom all summer.




Now all we have to do is hope we don't have many more cold nights! It has been a wet and cold spring in southern Michigan.
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