COM M U N I T Y
A Classroom in Living Color
I
Elementary students and community members partner to create a community pollinator garden
n 2015, an empty patch of park space near Lincoln Elementary stood poised, brimming with untapped potential. Today, thanks to the help of some of the creative and curious minds at Lincoln Elementary, that section of Eastwood Park has become a haven for pollinators and hands-on learning.
it. Another group added a prairie grass garden. Others have written pamphlets, studied bat houses and birdhouses and created pollinator replicas using a 3D printer. Through their studies, they answer the question “what does our garden need” and make it happen.
Each year, Lincoln Elementary second graders, guided by their teachers and community volunteers, study and care for a pollinator garden, shifting their classroom science standards into real-world learning. Instead of just reading about the relationship between pollinators and plants, these students are taking ownership to create a space to not only to observe science in action but also to carry on the experience for their schoolmates and community.
“Kids come up with the best ideas, more than we would ever think of and we are brave enough to go with it,” Nixon shared.
“Instead of planting in a cup, the kids are planting in a garden and they are going to see their efforts years down the road,” shared Sherry Franklin, a second-grade teacher at Lincoln that has been a part of the garden project since it began. “We thought it was really cool to impact a space where they play. The park, it’s their park; it’s where our kids go after school.” “Pollination and how it impacts our planet are part of second-grade science standards,” explained fellow teacher Kathy Nixon, also a founding garden educator. “We learn what a pollinator is, what plants need and how seeds are dispersed, in the real world.” Each new group of second graders gets to uncover their own way to influence the garden. The first group helped design 20 | July 2021
Franklin said they have brought in experts like beekeepers and landscape designers to help the students take their ideas from paper to reality. Adam Sarmiento, with Eco Landscaping, met with students to discuss the elements of a garden and then took each of the students’ ideas to shape the garden’s landscape. He was able to fit in almost all of their wishes. “They all wanted a water feature but we didn’t have the funds,” Franklin admitted. “He left space for the water feature in the center of the garden.” Nixon and Franklin have put in a lot of sweat equity to make the pollinator garden happen, from securing grants, constructing the garden beds to bringing in local experts to assist. And, they both said they are so thankful for the dedicated volunteers who inspired the garden, designed the garden and others who have worked alongside the school to keep the garden blooming. “When the community embraces you and validates what
