April 23--Lucky for fourth-grader Lileth Ramey, lavender was among the perennials planted by H.C. Storm Elementary students Wednesday at the school's new outdoor classroom.
Purple is Lileth's second-favorite color.
"They're so pretty, and they smell so good," she said, after evenly kneading the soil into a tight frame around the lavender's roots. "I can't wait to just relax on these stones and enjoy nature."
Despite stirring winds, Earth Day was filled with the clamor of shovels and cheering of fourth-graders, who all planted a perennial as part of the outdoor classroom's inauguration. The classroom -- which will include three outdoor picnic tables and a little library -- will be available for teachers to book their classes on sunny days.
The $19,500 classroom was the idea of the students, who pitched the concept almost two years ago, fund raised money and looked over blueprints.
H.C. Storm joins Whittier Elementary School in Wheaton and Emerson School in Elmhurst as one of just a handful of schools across the state offering outdoor classrooms. The spaces are designed as alternative learning environments and a means of finally "having class outside," officials said.
Teachers can teach class outdoors by having students bring along their Google Chromebooks.
At H.C. Storm, principal Tim McDermott said the little library, a kid-sized book deposit where children can take a book and leave another, provides students an opportunity to read outdoors.
The school's art teachers are also excited, he said. Students can sit outside and sketch the classroom's landscape -- a canopy of trees, shrubs, perennials and paved pathways.
"The classroom really serves a dual purpose," McDermott said. "They got the experience of planning a big project and having that ownership. And now moving forward, we're giving them a new space where they can learn."
On Wednesday, the fourth-grade classrooms teamed up with construction workers from West Chicago-based Grant and Power Landscaping to add finishing touches to the garden. About $14,500 was donated to the project in the form of plants, edging stones, mulch and labor from Grant and Power, Shemin Landscape Supply of Addison and Lafarge/Fox River Stone of South Elgin, officials said.
H.C. Storm students fund raised the remaining $5,000 by holding a bake sale, walk and dinner, said Julie Alholm, the school's instructional coach.
Construction on the library began April 20 and was completed April 22. The little library should be stocked within a week, Alholm said. The library will be dedicated to former H.C. Storm Elementary School student Anna Danielson, who died at age 20 in a car accident in 2013.
While planting her perennial, fourth-grader Brooklyn Allred said her main hope was that the library wouldn't be vandalized, and that students would respect the space.
"I think this is really cool," she said. "I can't wait for us all to be able to use it."
meltagouri@tribune.com
