tcrow@taylorisd.org Nestled in the heart of downtown Taylor, on the campus of Legacy Early College High School, is a small haven for bees, bumblebees, butterflies, birds, and small wildlife.
Flower crab spiders hide in the flowers, waiting for prey. Monarch butterflies favor the milkweed. Ladybugs and golden rod crab spiders prey on aphids, and indigo spires are the favorite destination of bees. They all coexist in the garden at Fifth and Main Street, thanks to the work of students in George Solano’s Spanish I and Teen Leadership classes.
“We began to do research to find plants that attracted bees and butterflies and we began to plan out a rough idea of what the garden would look like,” said Legacy student, Eva White. “When we received approval to create the garden, we all volunteered to help get it going.”
Getting the project going wasn’t easy. The rock-hard earth had only managed to grow an occasional hardy weed, and it took a lot of elbow grease to break up the dirt and make it usable.
“When we first began working on the garden, the only thing living in it was an old, small tree,” said Evan Polasek, a student volunteer currently helping to maintain the garden. “The soil was very clay-like, tough and dry. But with hard work, students brought fresh soil, planted flowers, added worms, and even began composting. Now, the garden is a lush habitat for worms, bees, and many other insects.”
Legacy’s students and staff have always supported environmentally friendly projects, and this particular group of students had already dedicated themselves to the school’s recycling program. Then Solano pitched the idea of starting a garden.
“In the beginning, freshmen students in the Spanish I and Teen Leadership courses who were volunteering with the recycling program were given the chance to do enrichment assignments with the garden,” Solano said. “The student response was enthusiastic.”
By the time school closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the garden had become a thriving part of a hands-on curriculum for Solano’s classes.
“The garden project became the stage for vocabulary and pre-writing lessons for my Spanish I class,” Solano said. “I have also used it with the Temple College dual credit Spanish 3 course as a way to incorporate environmental awareness into the curriculum and practice our Spanish language skills outdoors.”
Solano said his students have learned to translate the natural world into Spanish by observing nature and learning about Texas native plants and insects. They write journal entries about their garden experiences which are then translated into Spanish using specific verbs and keywords.
Polasek said common roles in the garden include watering, digging holes for new plants, checking the health of all life in the garden, and covering plants during frosts in the winter. His favorite part of the project is watching the animals.
“It is not uncommon to see bees, butterflies, and many other insects roaming throughout the garden,” Polasek said. “It also adds to the school’s aesthetic quality and teaches students to work hard.”
Students say the project has taught them strategies for planting seeds quickly and effectively, and for breaking up stubborn dirt. They also learned that bees are most attracted to purple flowers because they can see them very well.
The biggest challenges facing the young gardeners include monitoring aphid and ant levels, pulling weeds, covering the garden during freezing temperatures, and filling large, heavy watering cans to provide the needed amount of water.
White and Polasek agree that a favorite part of the project is taking a moment to appreciate the results of their work; Sitting and observing nature, and watching the insects and other animals enjoying the garden they worked so hard to create.
“The garden is pretty much a legacy that we are going to leave behind, even after graduation, for generations of students to come,” White said. “Now, instead of a bare, ugly patch of dirt, every student, teacher, faculty member, parent, and even random passerby will get to enjoy and admire our gift to nature.”
