TIFTON — Students at Len Lastinger Elementary School were able to help plant Georgia native plants at an outdoor STEM lab at the school on Nov. 7.

Tracey Ingram, who is a gifted resource teacher and is both the Tift County Teacher of the Year and a Georgia Department of Education Teacher of Excellence, brought classes into the lab to learn about why native plants are important and to help plant them.

She said that her kids really love doing hands on activities, and that those activities help them apply classroom lessons in the real world.

Ingram said that the building was donated by Excelsior Buildings and the solar panels were donated by Georgia Power.

The plants were donated by the Georgia Native Plant Society Tifton Chapter. They were grown by chapter member Amy Heidt and fellow members Mary Alice Applegate and Marilynne Marshall helped teach the students how to plant them.

Ingram said that the school will be sponsoring a STEM Night on Dec. 3 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for the community.