At Jamison Elementary School, learning doesn’t always happen inside the classroom. Sometimes it takes place along a wooded trail, beside a rain garden, or in raised beds where students kneel in the soil planting seeds that will later grow into vegetables, flowers and lifelong memories.
For nearly a quarter century, the school’s GRUBS Ecology Club has given students the opportunity to connect with nature while strengthening lessons in science, teamwork and community service. Overseen by fifth-grade teacher Jared Hottenstein, the program provides a voluntary opportunity for Jamison’s 5th grade students to get their hands dirty and enjoy the great outdoors.
Hottenstein, who has taught at Jamison Elementary for 25 years, said the idea behind GRUBS began with a playful twist on a familiar gardening problem.
“I put myself through college landscaping and had a background in horticulture,” he said. “When you pulled up to a lawn you could always see when grubs had been hard at work eating the roots because the grass would be dead.”
But rather than seeing grubs as destructive, Hottenstein used the concept to create a positive metaphor. “When I became a teacher at Jamison, I thought about how grubs are these little things unseen, but you can tell they’ve been busy,” he said. “I wanted to put a positive spin on that and call the work we do with kids GRUBS Ecology, because the little kids at an elementary school are hard at work behind the scenes making a positive impact.”
Today, that impact can be seen throughout the school’s expansive campus.
When Hottenstein first arrived at Jamison Elementary, he immediately took note of the natural features surrounding the school; wooded areas, open land, and a small stream flowing behind the building. “We had this incredible campus with a lot of property,” he said. “I thought, what a waste to not turn this into an outdoor classroom and get kids outside.
He transformed that idea into the earliest GRUBS projects. The first step was creating a trail leading students safely down to the creek. Soon afterward, Hottenstein secured a grant to transform an unsightly drainage area into a rain garden designed to absorb runoff while providing habitat for plants and wildlife.
“Once we had that, I realized we could landscape the whole area,” he explained.
Fifth grade students along with community volunteers added a wooden boardwalk built with recycled mahogany bleachers from Tamanend Middle School’s former stadium. Within a few years, the trail, rain garden and boardwalk had become an outdoor learning environment.
The garden itself soon followed.
Originally constructed as an Eagle Scout project, the garden has grown steadily over the years. Raised beds and an eight-foot fence were later added to make it easier to manage and protect the plants.
The space also benefited from the enthusiasm of former students. In earlier years, when Central Bucks High School seniors were required to complete senior projects, many Jamison graduates returned to help improve the gardens they had first experienced in fifth grade.
“One year I hosted 12 senior projects at Jamison,” Hottenstein said. “They were mostly kids who had been in my class and wanted to come back and help.”
Boy Scout troops also contributed, completing more than 20 Eagle Scout projects in the garden area.
“They knew Jamison was a place that looked to work with Boy Scouts on projects,” he said.
What has kept the garden thriving for more than two decades, Hottenstein believes, is its connection to the school curriculum.
“What gives the garden longevity is that we tie it to what kids are learning,” he said. “Why learn about life cycles just from a book when you can plant seeds and create a garden outside?”
A partnership with the horticulture program at Middle Bucks Institute of Technology helped expand that hands-on approach. High school students from the institute visited Jamison to teach fifth graders how to plant seeds and care for young plants.
Those fifth graders then became teachers themselves, guiding second graders through the same process.
“The second graders learn about plant life cycles in their curriculum,” Hottenstein said. “Instead of just reading about it, they grow something from a seed and watch it develop.”
The program soon expanded again to include Jamison’s autistic support classrooms. Students work together to plant and care for seedlings on indoor grow stands, watering them with spray bottles and helping them thrive.
“It’s almost like physical therapy for some of them because they’re using their hands and developing those motor skills,” he said. “But it’s also a social experience.”
The result is a schoolwide program where students of different ages and abilities collaborate.
“It’s become a cultural experience here,” Hottenstein said. “It’s a really good social and emotional education piece too.”
Although gardening remains at the heart of GRUBS Ecology, the program has expanded far beyond planting and harvesting for its 5th graders. They now also have the option to help operate the school store, coordinate a pumpkin decorating contest each fall and lead schoolwide composting and recycling efforts. They also collect unused printer paper from classrooms and redistribute it for reuse.
“About 50 to 70 percent of our fifth graders are involved in GRUBS in some way,” Hottenstein said. The program now includes three branches so students can participate in ways that match their interests.
One focuses on outdoor work in the garden and natural areas. Another, called the Kindness Crew, emphasizes character education by organizing activities such as a “Birthday Brigade,” where students sing to kindergarteners celebrating their birthdays and deliver cards or songs to residents at The Bridges at Warwick.
A third branch, JTS (Jamison Today Show), is the school’s student-run morning news program, giving students hands-on experience with cameras, technology and broadcasting.
“We wanted to offer something where every fifth grader could find a fit,” Hottenstein said.
GRUBS Ecology is also instrumental in the annual Mother’s Day plant sale.
Beginning in late February and continuing through spring, students plant herbs, vegetables, and flowers using recycled milk cartons collected from the school cafeteria.
“We rinse them out and use them as planters,” Hottenstein said.
Seeds are often donated by local nurseries, thanks in part to persuasive letters written by students as part of their classroom lessons.
“It’s another way we tie it into the curriculum,” he said.
The plants, ranging from herbs and vegetables to colorful zinnias, are sold just before Mother’s Day. Each year the students experiment with new varieties, often growing unique tomato or pepper types not typically found at large garden centers.
The garden also supports families in need. Any surplus produce harvested during the summer is donated to the food pantry at Barclay Elementary School.
Meanwhile, community volunteers help care for the garden during the summer months, watering plants and pulling weeds.
The garden continues to evolve. Currently, students and volunteers are developing a sensory garden and outdoor classroom designed especially for younger students and those in autistic support programs.
The space will include benches, herbs with distinctive scents and textures, and a teepee structure where students can gather and explore nature in a calm setting.
“It will be a place where they can experience nature in a sensory way,” Hottenstein said.
Future plans may include vertical gardening techniques and additional indoor grow stands so more classrooms can participate.
Hottenstein also envisions a long-term dream project: a “living library,” an outdoor reading area behind the school library with natural seating made from large stones and landscaped surroundings.
“It would be an outdoor extension of the library where kids could read outside,” he said. “It’s just an idea for now, but I’d love to see it happen someday.”
As the program grows, Hottenstein is gradually passing leadership of the garden to fellow fifth-grade teacher Theresa Yanny, who shares his passion for gardening and outdoor learning.
Still, the teacher who started it all often reflects on the deeper purpose behind the program.
“One of my favorite quotes, attributed to Albert Einstein is, ‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned,in school,’” he said. “If I can teach the academic piece through experiences that are so much more than academic, that’s what kids remember.”
Around the garden, those memories are everywhere.
Trees planted in honor of retiring teachers, a strawberry patch dedicated to a beloved cafeteria worker and spaces where former students return years later to take photos before prom all tell the story of a program that has grown into something much larger than a school club.
“It’s become a community piece that brings people together,” Hottenstein said. “No matter what your ability level is, we’re all out there with our hands in the dirt, helping out.”
And that, he believes, is the real lesson. “It’s a chance for kids to get their hands dirty and try something themselves,” he said. “Because when learning is presented this way, they’re never going to forget it.”
