Emily Brankin hoes a row that fellow students at Madison School will sow with okra seeds in the vegetable portion of the school's new outdoor classroom. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media

Teacher Sheryl Cebula shows Olivia Sulinga how to hoe a row in the vegetable garden of. Madison School's new outdoor living classroom. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media

Madison School fourth-grade teacher-Sheryl Cebula shows Ella Queenan and Sherry Gong, members of the school's Garden Club, how to start seeds in potting soil in her classroom. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media

Courtney Brown, 9, and Nate Niesen, a fifth-grader at Madison School, plant marigold seeds that will be started under a grow light in a classroom and later transpanted outside in the school's new garden. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media

Ieva Vaitkevicius, 10, waters freshly sown okra seeds in the vegetable garden, part of Madison School's new outdoor living classroom. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media