Tara Sacerdote, 10, plants a geranium in a memorial garden at New York School while Douglas County Master Gardeners and other students observe. Sacerdote is one of about 20 students in the Junior Master Gardener Program, which is in its 10th year at the school.

Students in the Junior Master Gardener Program at New York School are advised to add a teaspoon of fertilizer each time they put a plant in the ground.

When interviewing gardeners, I always ask them who influenced their love of landscaping. The answers are as varied as the gardeners, but most of them can recall someone from their youth who planted a seed of respect and appreciation for nurturing the great outdoors.

It’s often a parent or grandparent. But for a group of Lawrence fifth- and sixth-graders, the Douglas County Master Gardeners are playing that role.

On Wednesday afternoons, when Lawrence schools let out early, 20 children at New York School linger, wide-eyed and ready for the next great adventure. As they munch on an afternoon snack, the Douglas County Master Gardeners troll the room, picking up trash and dispersing flower pots. The assignment today is to paint flower pots, learn about various herbs and then plant those herbs in the colorful containers.

The speaker is instructing the students on the values and uses of herbs: medicine, flavoring and fragrance. The herbs are passed around the room as the children hear about oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme. They’re encouraged to smell the plants and examine their leaves. The speaker asks if anyone knows how to spell “thyme,” explaining that the “h” is silent. A few kids nod, clearly storing away this tidbit of knowledge to regale their parents with later around the dinner table.

“We want students to see the rewards of gardening to improve the appearance of their surroundings, to work together with others to accomplish a project and to feel the personal satisfaction that is gained from gardening,” says Donna Black, a Douglas County Master Gardener and co-chair of the Junior Master Gardener Program. “We certainly hope we’re planting the seeds for their future enjoyment.”

Sharing the love

I think they are as I hunker down in the back of the classroom and ask a couple of the young participants what they like about the program.

“I like the dirt, messing with the mud,” says 10-year-old Adrian Hill. “We have a few flower beds in the back of the school that were fun to get ready, plus I think painting these flower pots is going to be great.”

Jonathan Neal, also 10, agrees.

“I like this day, getting to paint these flower pots,” he says. “That’s going to be my favorite.”

Black says the Junior Master Gardener Program is in its 10th year at New York School. It operates through the Boys & Girls Club’s after-school program and is funded through K-State Research and Extension’s Family Nutrition Program, which was designed to meet the needs of young people attending schools where at least 50 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-cost lunch.

“Our committee really enjoys getting acquainted and working with young people and sharing our love of gardening with them,” Black says.

Among the projects this energetic group has taken on this year are tilling and planting a vegetable garden at the school, having a cleanup day, and landscaping projects: One is for a garden designed to attract monarch butterflies; the other is for an area where a bench soon will be dedicated to former New York students DaVonte Brockman and Nolan Vender. Both boys died in a house fire last year.

Today’s activity will help the students beautify their own homes with colorful herb-filled pots.

Double dividends

Black says she hopes students learn more about plants and their importance in the environment, proper ways to plant, soil conservation and the importance of composting and nutrition.

“We value youths and adults working together in a learning situation and the community service aspects of taking pride in making their school beautiful,” she says. “We think these are important life lessons that students can carry forward with them wherever life may lead them.”

I wanted to know why the Junior Master Gardener Program wasn’t in more Lawrence schools. It seems like a natural portal for encouraging students to take pride in their schools and possibly create future environmental stewards.

“One would need to identify a group of volunteers interested in offering the program, receive training in the JMG program and identify a funding source,” Black says.

While the program is expanding minds and feeding young souls with one of the most rewarding life-long activities a person can acquire, the elder gardeners seem to be gaining just as much from the experience.

“We feel as Master Gardeners that we gain as much as the students do in this program,” Black says. “The Lawrence public school district has also done a nice job with the new front entry to the school. Working together, we are all able to accomplish good things for the school, the kids and the community.”