CENTERBURG – It isn’t often that you can step out your door and right into a pumpkin patch.
But that’s exactly what children in the preschool operated by the Knox Educational Service Center (ESC) did on Monday. The school is located on the lower level of the Centerburg Local Schools administration building.
Thanks to the work of teachers and the generosity of Chase Cochran of Cochran Farms, the playground was transformed into a fall scene of scattered straw and pumpkins everywhere. Children in the morning and afternoon classes – 56 total – frolicked in the manufactured fall landscape, running, laughing, hugging pumpkins and burrowing through piles of straw.
“I was out here setting everything up at 7 a.m.,” said teacher Aimee Stowe. “I think some of the neighbors wondered what I was up to.”
Joining Stowe throughout the day were fellow teacher Ellie Hughes and teacher assistants Hannah Chester and Heather Flanagan.
Cochran has deep roots in Centerburg and close ties to the ESC preschool. A 2012 Centerburg High School graduate, he attended the Knox County Career Center while playing football and basketball at Centerburg.
“I had a daughter in the preschool last year and another daughter will enroll there next year,” Cochran said, adding that a nephew also attends the preschool.
“When I learned about the plans for the pumpkin patch I was glad to provide the pumpkins and straw. Learning to help others starts with kids and goes on up. It’s something I hope they will carry on as they get older.”
Cochran Farms operates a self-serve facility for corn, hay, straw, pumpkins and other commodities just north of Centerburg on Ohio 3. They also operate a similar facility on U.S. 36 at the junction of Ohio 308 east of Mount Vernon.