Vogelweh Elementary
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Tulips Up, and Signs of Spring — March 8, 2010

For the past 20 years, we normally get several snows of several inches, and we have snow on the ground for a week or two at a time. This year our snow started in December, and we did not see bare ground until the last week in February! We had accumulations up to 20 inches or more during some weeks!
On March 8, looking at our snow-cover tulip garden, it’s hard to imagine that just last week students made these observations about spring:

First graders noticed it looks like spring is near because... "I looked up in the sky and noticed it's sunnier, the clouds are spreading, the leaves are growing and the tulips leaves are popping out. They are growing out of the ground." " I can see a lot of clovers." " In the winter I couldn't see the tulips. Now the sunlight is making them grow out of the ground," said Michael C., Jayden, and Savion. Second graders checked the tulip garden and found, “When we looked at our tulips outside, we saw little sprouts. There was a big one, too. They were different colors. Some were yellow and some were green.” “Some of the tulips look like they are sticking their tongues out of the ground!” said Dean and Gabriel. Third Grade students observed and recorded other signs of spring when their tulips emerged. They saw spiders, ladybugs, pussy willows, and more!		Our school on March 8, 2010. Our school looks like most American schools, but the nearby villages where most of our students live have a distinctly European appearance!
		View of a neighboring village after the March 8 snowfall.
Students in grades K-5 planted 680 tulips in Kaiserslautern, Germany on October 29 and 30.	Fifth grade students dug trenches in the shape of a giant "VES." The V part of our garden contains 200 Red Emperor tulips, and is our test garden.	Our school is in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The students in our school are children of US service families.