HELENA – It’s that time of year again: time to plant the state of Montana flower bed that graces the lawn of the Capitol.
This year’s display was planted by students in the summer program at Access to Success, a high school diploma completion program.
The students have done the flower display several times in recent years.
Access to Success teacher Charlie Crawford says their program is as much about experiences as it is about learning.
She says this project connects the kids to Helena and gives them an accomplishment to be proud of.
“We sort of take them around, all over Helena, the surrounding areas. They go fishing, we go tour dams, things like that,” says Crawford. “And this is one of those things where they feel, they don’t really realize they’re giving back to the community and they are. And later on they kind of sit back and say, “Wow, I did that.'”
This year, there are 4,500 red and white zinnias being planted to form “Montana 2018,” along with a new addition: a bison skull.
