Chouteau students wanted a garden to serve as a memorial for three teachers.

CHOUTEAU -- Once the boys were done digging the hole and planting the tree, the girls stepped up with their hands full of mums and pansies.

"Excuse us, gentlemen. It's our turn to make it pretty," Rhonda Sloan said.

Sloan, a project coordinator with the Thunderbird Youth Academy, and more than 10 fifth-grade girls knelt down to plant flowers around the base of the newly planted tree at Chouteau Elementary School.

More than 15 fifth-grade boys and 16 Thunderbird cadets already had moved on to digging a hole for the next tree.

The planting Monday was the culmination of two projects with the same result.

The students wanted a memorial garden for three teachers who have died, two within the last month, and the cadets wanted schools at which to plant trees and flowers as part of a Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and Arbor Week project.

Cadet Jacob Brooks, 17, said: "We came here to accomplish something totally different. (But) we helped them accomplish something."

Julie Porter, a fifth-grade teacher at Chouteau, said it was a great coincidence.

"About the time we were ready to plant something, they provided the materials and manpower," she said. "This will give us a good start."

Sloan said Thunderbird, an alternative high school and National Guard program, received a $250 grant from Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and $100 donation from the Wal-Mart store in Pryor to fund the project.

Brooks said Thunderbird's Green Team began planning the project in February, and Sloan began calling elemen- tary schools in Mayes County.

"I really only expected a couple to participate," Sloan said, but almost every school she called said yes. "It's bigger than I ever thought it could be."

All 102 Thunderbird cadets will help plant flowers and trees at eight of the 11 elementary schools in Mayes County this week.

Thunderbird is providing one tree per site, but many schools are providing additional trees and flowers.

The cadets "can't wait to do the rest this week," Sloan said. "It hit them. It touched their hearts."

Brooks said he couldn't wait to get started.

"I've been really excited," said Brooks, who attended Chouteau Elementary School for a few years.

"It feels good to come back and remember."

Sara Plummer 581-8465
sara.plummer@tulsaworld.com