In January of 1998, after unsuccessfully trying to get an adult garden club going at Forest Glen Elementary School, I was approached by my son's fourth grade teacher, Susan Martin, with an offer of a plot of land to develop a garden. IPL's Environmental Stewardship Program was looking for a school to develop land at a nearby substation. Forest Glen was developing a student leadership program with the fourth and fifth graders. This was the perfect opportunity for us to develop a partnership in the community with the students doing the work.

Our number one goal was for this project to be done by the students. I acted as adult coordinator with the help of Lana Schneider. We started out by making up committees to cover all of the project's needs. The 26 children chose to be in management, fundraising and advertising, community relations, or research and development.

Each group decided what jobs they were to cover and worked both independently and with other groups when needed. The students wrote donation letters and took them to businesses. They telephoned community members for help, and designed and sent out pamphlets describing our project. The children measured and plotted the garden space. They also coordinated a "Planting Day" and "Harvest Festival" complete with television and newspaper coverage.

The parents and community members were amazed at the job that these children have done. We had a very small budget, but the children were able to get the City of Lawrence to install water lines and donate water. Wickes Lumber donated materials for a shed which parents built and the children painted. Plants and tools were donated from 15 businesses in the area.

The children were diligent. If they had sent a letter to a business and hadn't heard from them after a week, they made a follow-up call. The children learned how to be professional on the telephone and in person. They also learned about organization, budgets, and all of the paperwork involved in such a project before the actual gardening got started.

I am so proud of this group of children. They always worked hard and never asked for anything in return except for me to referee a volleyball game at the end of the work session. Each one of them holds a special place in my heart.

Throughout the summer, even with camps and vacations, we always had help. Some of the children enlisted younger siblings and parents. IPL employees would come out to help with tilling and weeding. The soil was poor and hard, so our yield was low, but with the elephant manure donated from the Ringling Bros. Circus we are looking forward to a much better growing season in 1999.