A Classroom in Living Color

Elementary students and community members partner to create a community pollinator garden

In 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.

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.

“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 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.

“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.

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 you are doing, it’s incredible,” shared Franklin. “Community members have advocated and helped care for the garden to make sure it continues to grow and look good for the kids.”

For those wondering what is next for Lincoln’s pollinator garden, well, you’ll have to wait and see.

“The garden, it’s for everyone’s but it’s (the students’) to care for,” Nixon said. “We will brainstorm with the kids to see what they envision next but they get to pick their question.”

However, volunteers do have some ideas in mind.

“The pollination garden is one piece of a bigger project that this community group envisioned,” Franklin said. “They want to create a whole learning space for more learning opportunities.”

Nixon hopes that their garden inspires others to create pollinator gardens of their own.

“I hope to inspire other schools and community groups to create similar gardens,” she said. “When we were researching, we couldn’t find many to draw from.”

Beyond the educational impacts, these teachers are most proud of the impact their students are making.

“Second graders are so passionate. They are social justice warriors,” Nixon said. “They want things to be fair and right. It’s so refreshing.”

“These 7- & 8-year-olds are having a real-world impact. If they can be empowered to solve big problems, then they have learned that the sky is the limit if you put your mind to it,” Franklin added. – BSM