By Lydia Earhart

Staff Writer

Screams of joy filled the Early Childhood Education Center last week when each child brought home a new orange Halloween friend.

The new friend was a pumpkin from the patch owned by Dr. John Adams, director and a professor in the School of Forestry.

"He and his wife are always willing to donate," Laura Chestnut, director of the Early Childhood Education Center and an instructor of human ecology, said.

"Their whole family is supportive of the center.

"They have some generous spirits," Chestnut said.

Chestnut said Adams' wife, Sandy, taught at the center temporarily when her son and nephew were little.

Sandy's father also donated a Christmas tree one year.

"I just enjoy doing it, and I like to grow things," Adams said. "I like to look at different things when they grow."

Adams said he just started growing the pumpkins for his nieces and nephews.

He decided later to make a larger patch and include the Early Childhood Education Center.

"I don't do this every year but I probably will next year because [the pumpkins] grow fast," Adams said.

Adams said when he bought the seeds he chose the ones that he thought would grow small pumpkins.

"There are a variety of pumpkins out there," Adams said. "I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder."

Adams said the children picked mostly small pumpkins.

"The children ran throughout the patch from pumpkin to pumpkin," Chestnut said.

"They were the perfect size for the children to carry. I actually think some of the children searched for a pumpkin that fit their personality."

Chestnut said the pumpkin patch was a bonus to their unit on pumpkins.

"Here at the center we can show the children pictures and talk about pumpkins," Chestnut said.

"Although when they see the pumpkins, they can visually experience it."

Chestnut also said the student teachers taught this unit of study by teaching the children about the uses for a pumpkin.

They also allowed each child to sample pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.

Chestnut said they taught the children about how a pumpkin grows from a seed.

"This unit teaches them about the cycle of life and the life cycle of plants and animals," she said.

Chestnut said this unit on pumpkins has given the student teachers a way to integrate other subjects as well as science.

"We used spelling the word [pumpkin] as a literary component," Chestnut said.

"Some of our 4-year-olds can spell pumpkin."

Mimi Nilsson, a senior family infancy and early childhood education major, said she enjoyed accompanying the children along with other Tech students to the pumpkin patch.

Nilsson said the children loved picking out a pumpkin from the patch. She said they learned a lot from actually picking it for themselves.

"This experience helped me see a better way for a child to learn more effectively because the lesson was hands-on."