EXICITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING AT LOWELL IN PREPARATION FOR PLANTING THE GARDEN:

K-3 grade students enrolled in the Minnesota Reading Corps program are busy reading to earn, dirt, seeds, and small flower pots. Every single word that is read in our daily sessions is counted towards their cumulative score. After weeks of dedicated reading, each  Minnesota Reading Corps student earned all the ingredients in order to plant a seed. We are enjoying  watching them grow and taking care of them. The students have the option of bringing their plants home close to earth day, or caring for them at school and planting them in the Lowell Garden close to the end of the year! Rachael Kresha, Minnesota Reading Corps Literacy Tutors.

Students in grades K-4 planted tomato seeds for the Tomato Man Project in honor of local gardener Ray Piccinoto.The seeds will be grown in the Hoffbauer Greenhouse until they are ready to be transplanted into gallon containers.  This will be done by the students at Lowell with the help of Lois and Doug Hoffbauer.  The students will take home a tomato plant, planting brochure and a plant journal to raise the tomato plant over the summer.  They are invited to take pictures, keep documentation of growth and tending to bring back to school for the Lowell Harvest Fest in late September.  Students bringing back evidence of the tomato growing will win a blue ribbons in memory of Ray.

Students in Mrs. Driscoll's room are planting biodegradable plant boxes.  They start with a shoebox and put in the soil.  then they plant the seeds.  When the box gets full of plants they can just dig a hole and put the whole box in the dirt.  The box will disappear into the soil.