At a time when the outdoor growing season has come to an end, 4th-grade pupils at West Elementary School have just begun a new planting project.
Pupils last week harvested wildflower seeds from the school’s Illinois native prairie site, including those from purple and yellow coneflower and columbine plants.
The seeds they collected will be kept refrigerated at a temperature similar to the outdoors until they are packaged and sold.
Over the next few months, pupils will design original seed packets. Each packet is individually drawn by one of the 4th-grade pupils. It must include the common name of the flower along with the Latin name, a colored drawing of the flower and information about when the plant blooms and how big it gets.
“Students look up the information themselves,” said teacher Chris Slavenas. “The only stumbling block can be when they come across conflicting references and then they need to check additional sources.”
Seeds sell for $1.50 a packet. Last season, pupils made $100 by selling seeds. Again this year they will sell wildflower seeds at a holiday sale in December, a Mother’s Day plant sale and at a community spring plant sale sponsored by the Wildflower Preservation and Propagation Committee of the McHenry County Defenders.
The pupils enjoy the hands-on experience the prairie area gives them.
“It makes you more interested in plants. When you go past a field, it’s neat, you can identify some of the plants,” said 4th grader Kelsey Picken.
The prairie site was started more than two years ago when landscaper and parent Jim McConnell suggested a native prairie at the school. The project began with donated timbers, plants and soil.
Slavenas said the native prairie area works into the 4th-grade curriculum well. Pupils each make an Illinois prairie plants book, and they study ecosystems and the food chain. An economics unit is utilized to discuss the seed sale, the costs involved and what to do with the profits.
With last year’s money, pupils reinvested in the site by purchasing native plants they didn’t have already.
