Oak Ridge Elementary School student Mia Minchev may just be in third grade, but she knows a little something about growing cabbages. She was named the state winner for the giant cabbage she grew as part of the Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program.
“I was excited. I was surprised because I thought I would never win,” Mia said.
Mia received a seedling in May from her science teacher. She took care of the plant over the summer, with a little help from her mom, and the fully grown cabbage was ready to be documented and submitted to the contest by the end of September. [Most read] Defenseman Connor Murphy is stretchered off during the Chicago Blackhawks’ 6-3 win against the Ottawa SenatorsMia, who helps her mom with some of the flowers at their house, had never grown something on her own before.
That lesson is just one that Bonnie Plants hopes to provide to students through the 3rd Grade Cabbage Program, which began in 1996 in Union Springs, Alabama. Thomas said by 2002 it became a national effort reaching hundreds of thousands of students throughout the country each year. Third grade students from any state except Alaska and Hawaii may participate. At the end of the season, they submit a photo and fill out a form describing their experience.