By KAYLEY FRANK

PENDLETON — For Marilyn Crosley, retirement didn’t bring the promise of relaxation, vacationing or spending more time with family and friends.

Instead, when she retired from teaching fourth grade at Pendleton Elementary 16 years ago, Crosley decided to start an outdoor greenhouse at the school, something that she still coordinates to this day.

“When I retired, outdoor labs were just starting to come into existence, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring one to Pendleton,” she said.

And since the greenhouse’s start 15 years ago, Pendleton’s outdoor lab has blossomed.

All 850 students at Pendleton Elementary spend time in the greenhouse each year, Crosley said.

“They each do different things every year,” she said. “That way, by the time a student reaches fifth grade, he or she has plenty of experience poking around in the dirt.”

Currently, the lab is funded by the school’s PTO and by contributions from local gardening clubs.

“We also sell some of the plants at local roadside sales like the Highway 38 sale,” Crosley said.

This year, students in each grade level have planted different flowers to give as Mother’s Day gifts. The plants vary by grade level, and include zinnias, marigolds, mums, colandulas, petunias and snapdragons.

“Some students work with seeds and others work with plugs — small sprouts of a particular plant,” Crosley said. “But everyone plants something. I don’t think we missed a child in the building.”

In addition to planting in the greenhouse, students also work with Crosley at maintaining 26 plant beds, a gourd arbor and various gardens around the school grounds.

“It is a lot of work,” admitted Crosley, who has several assistants working with her throughout the week. “But it gives the students a lot of variety and a lot of fun.”

The students work with a variety of plants as each plant bed has a different theme based on grade.