On October 16, 2024, Ms. Kiett’s Environmental STEM students Mrs. Irvin’s Newspaper club students hopped on a bus and took a trip to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA.  The reason for going on this lovely trip was so the Environmental STEM students can get inspiration for their own garden here at WTMS.

“My favorite thing was the water show,” 8th grader Asha Korleh stated.

The water show features 1,719 jets that can shoot up water 175 feet in the air. The fountains are illuminated with a variety of colors and changing light movements. The fountains are controlled by a state-of-the-art lighting and computer system. 

“My favorite thing was probably the cacti,” exclaimed by 8th grader Caeden Meacher.

The Silver Garden is where all the cacti are located in Longwood gardens. The most famous type at Longwood Gardens is the Agave Americana.

“Pierre S Dupont bought land in the early 1900’s and transformed it into a very beautiful garden area with a whole bunch of meadows and a very nice nice house. Pierre made his house public so that people could go in and explore it,” quoted 8th grader Caeden Meacher.

Pierre S. du Pont was born in 1870 in a DuPont Company house overlooking the Brandywine Creek just north of Wilmington, Delaware. His early years were influenced by the area’s natural beauty and by the du Pont family’s long tradition of gardening. But not even Pierre himself could have predicted that he would someday become one of the country’s most influential gardeners.

“Pierre really knew what he was doing with the water show because when you walk in and turn to your right you see a lot of cool structures, like for example I saw a structure of a bird and it was really cool. The grass was also cut very nicely.” stated Myles Newell. 

Overall, The kids really enjoyed themselves on the trip! They loved all the artifacts and features that were there and I don’t blame them because I mean it was really nice. Hopefully in the future they can go back and pay another visit to Longwood Gardens again!