Flowers such as these can be viewed all over the campus of Granite Hills, thanks to the sprouting ideas of Mr. Koontz.

Teacher Jim Koontz has found the recipe to a beautiful campus.

Picks, shovels, flower pots, and 17 students are just a few ingredients. But, let's not forget the key ingredient, a heart full of gold and determination that the kids seem to have.

"We use the flowers as a way to teach, to teach the kids to work together," Koontz said. "For regular jobs habits and learning about team work."

Koontz and past special needs students have been at Granite Hills planting flowers all around the school's campus for over seven years. Some years the group plants up to 50 flowers, two or three trees, bushes, and even fix benches in order to make sure the campus has that beautiful feeling to it. Some steps the students take in planting flowers are simple: preparing the ground/soil, cleaning out the weeds, planting the seed, and watering the flowers. But planting isn't all that Koontz can do. He has also taught English, agriculture, health, and for one year he taught welding at Granite Hills.

"Of the sixteen schools in Porterville, Granite is the nicest," said Koontz. "And in Valley, it's probably one of the best."

The revenue for planting flowers comes from Perkins Vocational Funding; the class is hands on job training where many of the students can learn skills that can benefit them for the rest of their lives.

"We use flowers to teach because you can see the end result," Koontz said. "They have learned responsibility and how to work together as a team."

The students usually plant during fourth and third period when the season is right. And this year's goal is to get the roses to bloom through the summer.

“It makes the campus look really nice,” Andrew Burchett said. Burchett is enrolled in Koontz’s third period class and has helped beautify the stunning Granite Hills campus. “Just planting in general is fun,” stated Burchett.