Orcas Christian students bring spring garden to life through hands-on learning

||| FROM ORCAS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL |||

Red radishes, crunchy with early spring promise. Spinach leaves curl and stretch, green in the gentle breeze. Carrot tops push through newly softened soil. After winter’s stillness, life is returning — and at Orcas Christian School, students are sparking that renewal through collaboration and hands-on projects that engage both mind and body.

Kindergarten through fifth-grade students have worked together this year on several cross-curricular projects, including Thanksgiving crafts and a hands-on activity exploring what it means to be a “vault” for others. Their latest effort brings them outdoors: planting the school garden with frost-tolerant seeds such as Bloomsdale spinach and Cherry Belle radishes.

The K-5 students, representing three classrooms, teamed up to prepare the garden beds. They pulled back the mulch that protected the soil through winter and planted rows of spinach, carrots and radishes. The crops will be maintained using the school’s in-ground irrigation system.

Third- through fifth-grade teacher Kallie Shelton said the project revealed a range of student interests. “It was interesting to see which students wanted to get their hands in the dirt and plant,” Shelton said. “Some were very interested, and some finished planting very quickly.”

After planting, students rotated to a sign-making station, where a small group of third- through fifth-graders had organized materials for labeling each crop. Later in the week, students installed the laminated signs, hammering stakes into the ground with notable enthusiasm — and, teachers noted, surprising skill.

One kindergartener even mimicked the precise hammering technique of his carpenter father.

The project offered a blend of teamwork, creativity and practical learning. As temperatures rise, each class is already looking ahead to the next phase: planting seedlings and garden starts in the weeks to come.