The Middle School 5th Mission summer school session was a perfect opportunity to teach our incoming 6th graders about gardening. During the month of June, art teachers Laura Beckman and Alicia Brand, with help from 6th grade teachers Cheri Nahlik and Amber Morgan, guided the new students in weeding, watering and planting four beds.

   Several students said that the experience was fun and not as boring as they expected it to be.

   The theme for this year's gardening project was salsa. Beckman said they planted a variety of tomatoes, such as better boy, pink lady, beef steak and a hybrid. They also planted peppers, including anaheim, pablano, chili and a zesty hybrid. The students and staff spent many hot summer mornings hauling bags of topsoil, turning over soil and plotting the square foot cells. 

   The result is we now have more than 80 plants growing in the garden. When school begins in August, the tomatoes and peppers should be ripe for picking. Beckman said the plan is for the 6th grade gardeners to harvest the veggies and turn them into salsa. 

   A shout-out goes to Marshall Cohen and Bayer's Garden Shop for donating plants and supplies. A big thank you also goes to Charlie Rice for watering the garden during the summer break.

   Thank you Lift For Life Academy for a successful summer planting season!