Faculty and staff members of Johnson Elementary School and Lowe’s employees hit the ground digging this morning as they began the cleaning and building process for the school’s renovated outdoor classroom.

Johnson Elementary was chosen by Lowe’s to be part of its Heroes Program. The corporation is donating man hours and $2,500 in supplies to the school for the outdoor garden, said Johnson Elementary reading specialist Kandye Jones.

Once the outdoor space is cleaned and trimmed, students will come back to school in August to find they have seven raised flower beds, one for each grade and special needs classes to decorate, plant and care for however they want. Students will notice painted metal tables with umbrellas they can sit at during lessons, Jones said.

“(Today) is going to be the big, big work day,” she said. “We’ll probably get everything done except the painting.”

Jones first thought of the project after seeing an outdoor classroom at a Florence school. The problem was that the outdoor space at Johnson had weeds, stumps that couldn’t be removed and a pond in usable condition. Jones took her idea to administrators and then to Lowe’s.

“I wanted each grade to have their own bed to be responsible for,” Jones said. “Each level will decide how they want their garden to be.”

The theme for the garden is “Ready, Set, Let’s Grow” because Jones wants the garden to be a place where everyone can grow together and be active.

As teachers watch their students grow, students can watch what they’ve planted or worked on bloom.

“Kids will get their hands in the dirt and be an actual participant (in the garden) — even the autism students,” Jones said, adding that as part of the multi-sensory aspect, students will plant herbs such as lemon or mint so they can feel and smell what they’re working on.

Teachers can schedule time slots to use the outdoor classroom for anything from giving students a change of environment with an outdoor story to taking students outside for a lesson that may be too messy for the indoor classroom.

“If Lowe’s wouldn’t have jumped in, we couldn’t have done it,” Jones said. “I think it’s going to look really good when it’s all finished.”