Washington High School agriculture teacher Buffy Everette not only grows plants, she feeds the minds of her students through hands-on learning.

Recently, Everette completed a lesson in her renewable-agriculture class on reusing materials to make flower and vegetable pots. One of the products her students produced at the end of the lesson was a 5-inch, biodegradable pot made of old newspapers in which they planted vegetable seeds.

As a follow-up lesson, Everette’s class learned that sometimes materials degrade a bit faster than planned, and they had to transplant their plants because the pots were falling apart.

While instructing her students on how to transplant their tender sprouts, Everette said, “It has been a good learning experience for them and myself. Now we know that we need more layers of newspaper and less water.”