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Keith Viebrock (center) and Andrea Littlefield pose with students who thanked ITD for the seed donation.

District 1 makes Rathdrum grade-schoolers see red and yellow

Approximately 400 grade-schoolers in Rathdrum will see a variety of new colors in May and June, thanks to the North Idaho office of the Idaho Transportation Department and 20 lbs. of wildflower seed donated for a Mother's Day planting.

Early in February, ITD was contacted by Mrs. Fonda Stewart's fourth-grade class at John Brown Elementary in Rathdrum about participating in the wildflower program. Andrea Littlefield, the D-1's Adopt-A-Highway coordinator, and Keith Viebrock, of the Vegetation Crew, sprang into action and assembled wildflower packets for the school containing Blanket Flower, Plains Coreopsis, Upright Prairie Coneflower and Showy Goldeneye.

Littlefield and Viebrock visited the school Feb. 26 to distribute the packets to eager students. Handwritten thank-you notes arrived from Mrs. Stewart's class a few days ago.

Although it was only the fourth-grade class that contacted ITD, the planting will be a school-wide event for the K-6 school in Rathdrum. The wildflowers will be planted on Mother's Day, and should sprout 15-45 days later. Wildflowers were chosen for being drought-resistant varieties that thrive in the area's geography and climate. Five pounds of each of the four seed varieties were distributed for planting.

Read some of the thank-you notes from the fourth-graders