As Jamie loosened the roots of the sapling with her foot, Omari scooped out mound after mound of dirt until the hole was big enough for the young tree.

Around campus Friday, about 35 kids at Kennedy Middle School were bundled up in jackets and sweat shirts to plant, mulch and water 17 live oak saplings.

It was under 60 degrees when they started at 10:30 a.m., but most grinned as they worked, even as the wind whipped temperatures lower and lower.

The project was for George Fatolitis' seventh-graders, who are learning about plants in science class. They teamed up with Barbara Brown's eighth-graders to celebrate Florida's Arbor Day.

National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates to coincide with their best tree-planting times.

All of the kids are in the Model Student Achievement Program, or MSAP. It's for middle school children who are considered dropout risks because they haven't been working up to their potential. To motivate them, students are taught in small classes with creative teaching techniques.

"I think they can learn more in planting a tree than reading about moss and cytoplasms," Fatolitis said.

Each of his students will adopt a live oak and throughout the year they'll measure them, monitor water absorption, dissect leaves and look for signs of insect infestation.

"It makes their learning real to them and relevant," said Principal Doc Allen, who stepped out his office to watch them.

Fatolitis, who also teaches social studies, said he found ways to link the exercise to other lessons, such as the history of Arbor Day and Theodore Roosevelt's contributions to conservation.

Some of the kids grasped the aesthetic value of the trees as well.

"It also helps the community look better and our school too," said seventh-grader, Leonard Johnson Jr., 12.

Omari, also 12, has done his share of planting citrus trees at home with his dad and said that looking out for his campus oak won't be easy.

"I'm going to have a hard time working with it, but I think I'm going to have a lot of fun doing it," he said.

Fatolitis gave them a quick review before they headed inside for lunch, hot cocoa and cookies.

"Did you hug your tree? Did you kiss your tree? Because you're going to be watching it all year," Fatolitis told them.

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