Penny Creek Elementary School second-grader Roya Farhat, 7, explains why the raised flower beds planted with mixed flowers and vegetables are good for bees, and why bees are important to us, Friday during a celebration of the great job they did creating the garden. (Dan Bates / The Herald)

Penny Creek Elementary School second-grader Roya Farhat, 7, explains why the raised flower beds planted with mixed flowers and vegetables are good for bees, and why bees are important to us, Friday during a celebration of the great job they did creating the garden. (Dan Bates / The Herald)

Penny Creek Elementary students are abuzz about bees

MILL CREEK — Two classrooms at Penny Creek Elementary School were overrun with visitors Friday.

The kids were in charge, leading parents and other guests on a tour of their year-long project, an outdoor garden designed to attract bees.

“We call this our reading garden because we read out here a lot. We also call it our outdoor classroom,” said Roya Farhat, 7, a second-grader at the school.

Farhat showed off the raised flower beds planted with a mix of flowers and vegetables. So far the kids have seen two bees among the flowers.

“Bees are very important to our environment because they pollinate our fruits and vegetables,” she said. “And they make that delicious honey you love!”

Inside one classroom, third-grader William Scarborough and second-grader Ethan Stevenson stood holding a large poster showing the life cycle and ecology of bees. They answered questions from parents.

“I think the most interesting thing is there are more than five ways that bees die,” Scarborough said, including mite infestations and pesticide poisoning.

“Native bees can survive mites, but regular bees can’t,” Stevenson chipped in. “This isn’t happening just here, this is happening worldwide!”

Kirsten Judd’s third-grade class joined forces with Valerie Strong’s second-graders for the project.

The project evolved from the life sciences curriculum, Strong said, and their reading about endangered bee populations.

The kids ran with it, sometimes steering their work in unexpected directions, she said.

In addition to the garden, the kids made videos, painted signs and created informational posters. They wrote letters to the landscapers to ask them to let some parts of the lawn grow out with bee-friendly dandelions.

They raised money, applying for and receiving a $5,000 grant from the National Education Association and a $1,000 grant from the Everett Public Schools Foundation.

They also asked for and received 200 free ride passes from Community Transit so they could go shopping for supplies.

“We got these plants from a special place,” Farhat said. “We got them from Lowe’s.”

The entire project incorporated reading, writing, science and technology lessons, Judd said.

“They did a ton of research and we really wanted to them to realize the power of using resources in their community,” she said.

Third-graders Fiona Lazaro and Bella Edmonds later read to the assembled visitors an essay they wrote on how they developed their project over the year.

Next year, Edmonds said, they may install bee boxes, too.

“We’re running out of time, but at least we’re going to keep a few students next year,” Edmonds said.

It’s more than a few kids, Strong said, because the second-graders will become third-graders who help the next class of second-graders learn about bees, and the knowledge will continue to be passed down.

“They all know they are stewards for their entire career at Penny Creek,” Strong said.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.