Dozens of Kila School staffers, students and community members finally built on the dreams of building a garden and outdoor classroom on Saturday.

It was a building blitz at the school as parents and students set to work sanding, staining, digging, hauling and constructing.

This wasn’t a typical small-scale school garden. Volunteers had to build features such as a pavilion/stage, raised beds and a pond in what will become the Kila School Outdoor Learning Center. The learning center covers less than 7,000 square feet.

When completed, the learning center will have a hoop house, compost area and a place for a beehive.

It is also built with wheelchair accessibility in mind. Three raised beds are being built to the height of a wheelchair user and a ramp will provide access the pavilion stage.

 Beans, peas, corn, pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, herbs, ornamental flowers, fruit trees and native plants will be grown.

The seeds were planted for a school garden years ago, according to Kila School science teacher Nadine Ordway.

“We’ve been trying to get a garden going for a long time,” Ordway said.

The purpose of the Outdoor Learning Center is to provide a place where student minds could grow right along with the vegetables and fruits they plant, tend and harvest.

“We will link it to our whole curriculum — math, science, writing and art,” Ordway said.

The school created a garden class elective this year, which has been prepping all the materials and inventory for a smooth build. The garden class is co-taught by Ordway and Chris Keller.

Building the Outdoor Learning Center is naturally conducive to subjects such as math, according to Ordway and Master Gardener Alison Godfrey of Kalispell.

“We don’t have soil yet for the raised beds, so the students have to come up with the volume of soil,” Godfrey said. “You have to understand basic math calculations — how much wood is needed; soil tests for proper fertilization — do we need additional nutrients? You can relate how soil needs nutrients just like the body.”

Ordway added, “Math happens organically.”

The possibilities of what the outdoor learning center could provide have inspired students, Ordway said.

“A middle school student said, ‘Can we have our drama production out on the pavilion?’” Ordway said. “See how it inspires?”

The dream for a school garden began budding in the form of a small plot of beans, corns and squash planted and harvested for the school’s Native American Heritage Day stew.

“Traditionally, some tribes planted those together because they were known as the ‘three sisters’ and had a symbiotic relationship in the growing process,” Ordway said.

Fifteen-year-old Liam Crowley was part of that first class that planted those vegetables as an eighth-grader at Kila School. He is now a sophomore at Flathead High School and came back to help out, along with his parents plus siblings who are Kila students.

“We planted corn beans and squash over there,” Crowley said, pointing to a corner of the new garden.

Crowley said he had mixed thoughts about school gardens until he saw how much interest there was once at the building site.

“My initial theory was that this would last a year, but I think they will keep it going,” Crowley said.

Sonia Peterson, a parent of a second-grader, was busy staining wood and said she came out to support the school’s efforts.

“I think it’s great. It will teach kids responsibility and they’ll be able to see the fruits of their labor and what their hard work can do,” Peterson said.

Students also learn that fresh vegetables and fruits can be delicious, as Kila School fifth-grader Kimberlie Crowley did.

“They always make a really good stew for the festival,” said Crowley, 10, who took a break from using an electric sander to talk.

Healthy eating is another component Kila School hopes to impress upon students through their work in the garden.

Ordway said the Outdoor Learning Center wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Kila Parent Teacher Organization president Mette Cephers and of Godfrey, who went above and beyond the pursuits of a Master Gardener by writing grants and, as a retired engineer, helping with design.

Funding for the learning center has come in the form of grants. A $1,000 grant from the Kalispell VFW funded an irrigation system. In August, garden supporters learned they had received a $5,855 Plum Creek grant and construction kicked into high gear.

“We’re hoping to get everything done this fall so in the spring we can focus on planting things,” Ordway said.

“We grow great kids here and we’ll grow great gardens.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].