The Altoona Area School District Foundation awarded a grant to Jessica Hogan and Eli Mencer’s biology class in October to create a tulip garden on the school grounds. After Hogan wrote a proposal to the AASD Foundation requesting $450, the class was granted the requested amount.
There were 10 students working on this project. The class also needed the approval of the building and grounds director, Trevor Robinson.
“He wanted to make sure the colors went along with our school colors,” Hogan said. “We were going to just do red and white ones, but I found the maroon and white ones that were actually shipped from Holland. The tulips are named Triumph Tulip Tiramisu and took about three weeks to get here.”
The class then mapped out where to plant the bulbs and priced out the project based on their budget. After research on the available space to create the garden, they settled on the raised bed in front of the high school. Students had to measure the length, width and depth of the garden beds.
“We are a little concerned because it’s a raised bed, and if it freezes, we could lose the whole crop. We’ve covered them enough,” Hogan said.
In the classroom, students learned about the different bulb types and how they function for plants.
“I wanted them to get out of the classroom and do hands-on things working together as a team. As we are studying the circle of life in biology, by watching the tulips grow, they can see the circle of life through tulips,” Mencer said.
The class began the planting process on Nov. 12. They prepared the beds by removing mulch, adding topsoil and replacing the mulch in preparation for planting the tulip bulbs for arrival. Student Jonah Walters’ job was to plant the bulbs. It took about three days to get them planted.
“I preferred the hands-on learning method in comparison to the classroom. The biggest challenge was everyone listening to what jobs they were supposed to be doing to get it done in time,” Walters said.
Although the tulips were planted in November, they will not begin to sprout until March. April and May is when the tulips are expected to be grown.
“It gives us a sense of community pride,” Hogan said. “What I really wanted the kids to see was that you do the work and sometimes you don’t see results until later. You don’t always get instant gratification for something, and you don’t see the results until down the line.”
