CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Thanks to a generous donation from Gloria Hicks, every student at Hicks Elementary is going home with their own pumpkin.
This Tuesday, it's a "Pumpkin-Palooza" at Gloria Hicks Elementary School. The special day is centered on the fall staple.
According to Gloria Hicks, the school's namesake, Principal Kathy Ortiz approached her with the idea for a school pumpkin patch. She was happy to help make it happen.
"I've got wonderful kids here, we have 600 kids, and they're all at-risk," Hicks said. "So this year we decided we would have our own pumpkin patch. Most of these children don't get pumpkins, so we wanted each of them to have a pumpkin to take home."
Hicks said CC Produce provided the smaller pumpkins, and she supplemented the rest. In total, 650 pumpkins decorated the school.
It's not just about the decor, though. Tuesday's lesson plans are also focused on pumpkins.
"Instruction will be wrapped around a pumpkin all day long," Ortiz said. "Math, reading and science. So the students will have an opportunity to get to know pumpkins in many different ways."
According to Hicks and Ortiz, this is the only elementary school pumpkin patch in the area. At the end of the day, each and every student and staff member will take a pumpkin home.
