Planting the seeds of a new school

Palouse Prairie Charter School kindergarteners took their shovels to the dirt Wednesday to plant the beginnings of a small forest on a hill at the corner of Nursery Street and Powers Avenue in Moscow - the future site of the new Palouse Prairie Charter School building.

The site was mostly barren Wednesday afternoon except for a cluster of brightly-colored kindergarteners, who planted nine trees and 15 shrubs on the hillside.

The plantings are just in time to allow some growth before the new school is expected to open in September of 2019.

Kindergarten teacher Katie Sorensen said students have spent the last few months studying the Palouse's native plant life.

Sorensen said the project is part of an Expeditionary Learning Education approach to teaching, which provides lessons that integrate several different subjects into project-based learning.

Students at each grade level participate in expedition projects based on what they have learned in the classroom that semester.

Last year, a class of Palouse Prairie fourth-graders spent its semester building a cedar-plank canoe as a way to learn about other cultures, westward exploration and expansion, the effects of colonization on indigenous people and the future confluence of cultures in Idaho and elsewhere.

This year's class of kindergarteners spent the semester learning about plants and how different plants benefit the environment.

Before the semester ends in June, Sorensen said her students will complete the final leg of their project by creating field guides to accompany the newly planted forest and educate the community.

Moira Nealon, 6, of Moscow, and her teammates found the perfect spot to plant their syringa shrub Wednesday afternoon, Moira said. Her mother, Donan Nealon, was there to help scoop dirt, handle the water and supervise.

Donan said Moira was so excited about the project, her daughter made her own costume in honor of the day - a green T-shirt with yellow pom-poms in the middle and white, felt petals.

"This project really captured Moira's imagination," Donan said. "She has come home for the past two weeks talking about the syringa and counting down the days until we could come and plant."

Some of the students have already found opportunities to apply their newfound knowledge to the real world.

Sorensen said student Kaden Wickenhagen, 6, of Moscow, was able to pick out a ponderosa pine among other trees displayed last week at a local Arbor Day sale.

"He was able to use all the information he studied," Sorensen said. "That's when you know that you actually taught them."

The gardening trip was also a lesson in how to care for plants, student Carli Yopp, 6, of Moscow, said, as she and her teammates took a break on the hot sidewalk to reflect on what they had learned.

"It's good to plant, and it helps me learn how to plant trees," Yopp said.

Groundwork on the new school is expected to begin May 31 with construction beginning later this year.

Taylor Nadauld can be reached at (208) 883-4630, by email to tnadauld@dnews.com and on Twitter @tnadauldarg.