There’s a special satisfaction you get from digging in the dirt, planting something and watching it grow. A tiny bud starts to sprout, and before long there is a plant, a beautiful flower or an edible vegetable taking root.
Students at Bess Race Elementary School in Crowley, Texas, are experiencing gardening firsthand through a partnership with Tarrant Regional Water District that is taking them outside their classrooms and into nature to learn about plants that nurture our community and sustain our local ecosystems.
Former Bess Race teacher Robyn Gotcher had a vision when she applied for and received a 2024 TRWD Conservation Treasures grant to add water-conserving, science learning spaces to the school’s existing vegetable garden. The goal was to create a sustainable, sensory nature experience where kids could be inspired by touch, smell and color, as they helped plant, maintain and watch their efforts grow.
Through meetings with TRWD Conservation Supervisor Betsy Marsh and her education team, a plan was developed for a variety of outdoor learning features. Approvals from the principal and school district were secured, and in summer 2025, a group of teachers, parent volunteers and students began working with TRWD to prepare an area for planting a native, perennial flower garden by sheet mulching, adding compost and preparing the soil for fall planting. Then, on a perfect October day, students of every grade level, from kindergarten to fifth grade, ventured outdoors to help plant as they learned about gardening, the importance of water and the science of how gardens grow. With the support of the TRWD education team, hundreds of students planted dozens of native grasses and flowering perennials that day, and not long after, three beautiful, new native shade trees.
Reaping the benefits
“It was awesome to see the kids so excited about their new project, using wheelbarrows to move dirt, working with gardening tools and feeling so empowered,” said teacher Jennifer Abner. “The kindergarteners were really interested in the watering part of it, and the older kids enjoyed the feel of digging in the dirt. For all, it has been a great experience.”
After the big day, teacher Kaileigh Sapienza started a garden club so the kids could keep up with the weeding, watering and other hands-on tasks one to two days a week.
“The kids are excited to get the materials out: the shovels, gloves and hose. The garden club has grown more than we ever imagined. We started with about 15 kids, and now there are about 30-40, depending on the day. Students are telling their friends about it, and they want to join too. Whole families are getting involved, and some have even been inspired to start their own gardens at home,” she said.
A major team effort
TRWD’s assistance has been key, the teachers said, and the school has also benefitted from seed packets and edible plants donated by the North Texas Food Bank. An initial garden grant from the Chisolm Trail Education Foundation in 2023 enabled high schoolers from the Crowley ISD CTE Center to build 10 raised garden beds that helped Bess Race get started.
“Betsy Marsh and her TRWD team have been amazing, providing the guidance and technical expertise and thinking about sustainability, how we will keep this up over the next few years,” Gotcher said. “They helped us plan the big picture, prepare the site and install the new garden features– and they continue to actively support the educational vision.”
This May, the TRWD youth education team will provide outdoor lessons in the garden for every Pre K through fifth grade student in the school. These lessons will help students understand and appreciate their garden, the value of water, and students’ important role in caring for nature.
“We are so excited to support the students’ learning and work with the dedicated team at Bess Race,” Marsh said. “This garden is succeeding because of the smart, motivated teachers and supportive principal and administrative team who are committed to embedding the garden into the overall vision of the school.”
Next steps include developing signage for the pollinator garden and shade trees, and collaborating with the school district to construct a supply shed with rain gutters to collect rainwater for the garden. In the coming school year, the team will add outdoor science spots, where students can observe how water interacts and moves with soil, and potentially a pocket prairie for native grasses and wildflowers.
“We’re taking it one step at a time, as the school is ready. We’re going at a pace that’s comfortable for the teachers, working side by side as the garden develops. We’re in this partnership for the long haul,” Marsh said.
Here we grow
Now that spring has arrived, students are seeing the growing gardens from a different perspective.
“They light up every time they go outside. The sensory experience of it is so much fun. Students can smell the mint leaves on their hands as they work with the plants, or appreciate the touch of feathery grass, and they’ve been fascinated with the grubs and worms, lizards, butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and lady bugs that share space with the plants,” Abner said. “We were even greeted with a nest of bunnies at one point.”
For a generation that spends so much time indoors on their devices, getting outside can be a whole new experience.
Being able to see a garden grow teaches kids so much about water, the land, conservation, leadership, responsibility and teamwork, the teachers all noted.
“And the more you learn about something, the more you appreciate it and want to protect it,” Abner said.
