Bragg Middle School teacher Joan Marks, middle, holds a potted sweet potato plant that sprouted chutes. The classroom experiment led to seventh-grade students, including Katie Moon (left) and Troy Williams planting a garden on school grounds.

By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



School may be out at Bragg Middle School, but a student project will continue to grow all summer long.

This spring, students in Joan Marks’ seventh-grade science class planted a small garden on school ground, containing a handful of tomato and pepper plants.

Marks, who has taught at Bragg for more than 20 years, said she was surprised by the response and enthusiasm her students had for the garden project. However, the genesis of the garden was even more surprising.

As part of a class experiment, Marks brought in a sweet potato plant and placed it in a jar of water. Within weeks, the potato had sprouted several chutes.

“We were studying plants and I explained to them that you can take a sweet potato, put toothpicks in it and place it in water and it will grow,” she said. “That led to the discussion.”

The experiment almost met a fatal end when a student accidentally bumped the potato, causing it to fall and breaking one of the bottom chutes.

“We put it back in water and it has chutes coming out of the top and the side,” Marks said. “The kids were amazed; they were all about the potato.”

The interest her students showed in the potato led Marks to let the students try their hands at gardening. School custodian Paul Rush tilled up dirt behind the school and donated tomato plants. He also roped off the garden with yellow caution tape.

The kids also dug holes with hoes and planted the vegetables. Marks said the experience also created a kinship between students and their parents and grandparents who also plant gardens. “The economy came into the picture and more of the students were talking about their families who have gardens now,” she said.

Two students, Katie Moon and Troy Williams, said they had family members who had planted gardens. “It’s fun watching things grow,” Williams said of the garden experiment.

Marks said she planned to go to the school during the summer months and keep an eye on the garden for her students and encouraged them to do the same. “I told them if they passed by the school and saw a fresh tomato to pick one,” she said.

The garden project may end Marks’ career at Bragg Middle School on a high note. After a long career at the school, she’s not sure where or if she will teach next year.

“I was just so amazed at that age they would be so interested in planting something and see it growing,” she said. “It was very encouraging to see such a great response.”