“Class, today we are going to plant seeds. I've given you each a plastic cup with dirt in it. Pick up the seed and push it into the middle with your finger.” Miss Crawford instructed her students.

“Miss Crawford, what sort of seeds are these? They're white,” Kira said, holding one up

“They're pumpkin seeds. One day this seed will grow into a huge pumpkin.” The teacher smiled, her eyes widening.

“We can't grow a pumpkin in this cup, Miss Crawford,” Randy said. “Pumpkins get this big.” He held his arms out to the side.

“Randy, we're planting the seeds and helping them to get started. Once they're too big for the cup you can take them home and have your parents help you plant them in your back garden, or wherever you have a lot of dirt.”

The students poked their seeds in and carried their cups over to the sink. Miss Crawford had instructed them to put water in the cup, just enough to wet the soil, but not too much.

After two weeks each pumpkin seed had sprouted, poking their green heads through the dirt. They kept watering them and giving them a lot of sunshine. After another few days Miss Crawford said, “Class, now is the time for you to take home your pumpkins. Plant them in a sunny location, water them every day with your hose or a watering can and by the end of summer you'll have one or two huge pumpkins growing on the vines.

All summer long the students did as their teacher had told. They watched their pumpkins grow bigger and bigger. At first they were green, but turned bright orange.  When they went back to school in the autumn, Miss Crawford asked each of her students how big their pumpkin grew. The children laughed as they told her about the size of theirs. “I have a great idea. Why don't each of you bring your pumpkins to school and I'll take a picture of them. You can remember what you did for the rest of your life each time you see the photograph.”

The next day the mom's and dad's brought their children's pumpkins to school. Some were much larger than others. Kira's wasn't that big. She could carry it by herself. Donald's, Angela's, Percy's, Jack's and Emily's were the biggest. Their father's had to carry them in.

Miss Crawford had them stand behind their pumpkins and took their photo. “Class, these are the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen. I'm so proud of you all.”

The children were proud too.  They took their pumpkins home again that night and carved them into jack-o-lanterns for the holidays.