On April 29 students from Walker Elementary School, 3601 Church St., participated in an all-day event, teaming with employees from the Long Grove facility of Brickman Landscaping to plant a variety of agricultural plants and create a butterfly sanctuary.
Children from kindergarten through fifth grade were involved in this hands-on event, during which teachers, staff and Brickman employees discussed soils, plant development and healthy eating.
Brickman Landscaping donated the time and labor of a significant number of employees. Each year the company decides on a Founder’s Day project, and teams from each of its branches give back to the communities where they either work or live by volunteering their time and talent to an organization. This year Walker School was a recipient of one of these Founder’s Day projects. Walker students raised funds at their fall car wash as well as receiving donations from neighboring families, the North Shore Garden Club and the Highland Garden Club.
Prior to this event, Walker School second-grade classes worked with professors and students from the Oakton Community College Division of Science and Health on a project designed to develop students’ problem-solving skills and encourage analytical thinking. Together they collected soil samples from the garden plots. They tested the soil for nutrient content and then did a presentation on soil structure and chemical makeup.