The nasty invasive species and weeds that took over the Collins Elementary garden space have disappeared, making way for a new garden next spring.
Marnie TenCate’s second-graders and Karin Cramer’s fourth-graders made it happen as part of a STEM project. Students learned about how human activity has destroyed natural habitats, with one of the results being the decrease in monarch butterflies. Earlier in the school year, they watched caterpillars turn into butterflies before releasing them.
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Marnie TenCate tells students to attack the burr bush first, so the burrs don’t attach to their clothing. The invention of Velcro was inspired by burrs, she told them -- and after Googling it, we confirmed she was right

The garden party started with a restorative circle, where each student gave a suggestion for how to take responsibility for what they were about to do. “Be safe,” “Don’t goof off” and “Don’t hit somebody in the head with a shovel” were among the responses

Their teacher’s direction to watch out for burrs wasn’t easy for the students, because when one is young, burrs are actually kind of fun. Ava Quinn seemed quite proud of how many she got stuck to her gloves. “Our kids were purposely putting them in their hair,” said Principal Mitchell Balingit, who stopped by to visit. “It was a teaching moment”

Mia Turner starts tackling the big mess of weeds students were charged to rip out. Gloves, trowels, shovels and other supplies for the project were paid for with a grant from Groundswell, an environmental education program at Grand Valley State University