Summer might be the ideal time for students to sleep in and enjoy lazy afternoons, but that doesn’t mean learning must end.

Several students at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Junior-Senior High School spent a week in June learning the ins and outs of landscaping. The teens volunteered their time to make a new patio outside the school, doing everything from picking out the plants to building the benches.

The landscape project on the west side of the junior-senior high school in Grove City was organized through the school’s 21st Century Learning grant.

Materials were purchased through a family memorial to the school district, high school teacher Tami Bennett-Tait said.

The pavers and soil were donated. ACGC teacher Michelle Hansen also helped construct the patio.
Designed by Bennett-Tait, the patio consists of a square planting bed around a paved patio. A raised planter sits in the middle of the patio.

“I love it. ...It adds a little character to the space,” she said.

Students spent several days working on the project, from budget discussions to manual labor, Bennett-Tait said. First step was to prepare the soil, removing the clay and laying a fresh layer of dirt. The teens then laid the pavers in the middle of the patio.

The group picked out hardy plants, from Peaceful Thymes in Atwater, that would stand up to western winds.