EDMOND — Some teachers leave indelible memories on the lives of their students, and Cheryl Coffelt at Washington Irving Elementary School is one of them.

A former fifth-grade student of Coffelt, Matt Bailey is working on his Eagle Scout award, and his first thought for a project was to revisit the Butterfly Garden at Washington Irving started by Coffelt and her family 11 years ago.

“I wanted to do it for my old school, but mainly I wanted to do it for Mrs. Coffelt because she did so much for me,” Matt said.

At the time the garden was first planted it was in mostly sun, and today, thanks to the many trees planted from the original grants, the garden is mostly shade.

Matt will be a sophomore at Santa Fe High School and is an active member of Troop 331, which meets at St. Monica’s Catholic Church where Tony Zabloudil is scoutmaster.

The original Butterfly Garden built by Coffelt with the help of her husband Danny, who is now deceased; her father, George Ulm; and her son, Justin Coffelt, was beginning to show the years of wind and weather as the timbers started deteriorating.

Zabloudil told Matt this would be a great chance to be a boss and direct adults as he acted as project manager in charge of replacing the 638 timber pieces outlining the butterfly garden.

With the help of his parents, other troop members of all ages and their parents, 20 in total, Matt and the scouts descended on the garden last Saturday and put in eight hours of labor-intensive work, finishing an hour earlier than he had planned.

In addition to funding the project, which was mostly finished with donated products, Matt had to map out a plan of action as well as a schedule.

“Everyone worked really hard,” Matt said. “My main job was making sure everyone stayed on target.”

Matt not only practiced teamwork while participating in the project, he also learned about involving different aspects of the community through donations.

Many of the supplies he needed were donated including the wood to be cut into posts by his dad, also pea gravel and deck screws as well as the markers for the flowers.

“I couldn’t have completed this project without the help of the area businesses including Home Depot on Pennsylvania, Masterbilt Fence Company in the south side of Oklahoma City, both of the Westlake ACE Hardware Stores, X-Cel and Lowe’s.”

Fifth-grade students, members of Washington Irving’s Watching Outdoor Wonders club, were busy Tuesday evening cleaning out flower beds and planting new flowers donated by Under the Sun while Matt placed 15 flower markers throughout the flower beds.

“When we started building the Butterfly Garden all that was here was red clay,” Coffelt said. “With two separate grants from the OKC Foundation totaling $3,500, we have completed the gardens with a walking trail, something the whole community can enjoy as well as the students.”

Students in all the grades make use of the garden.

“Kindergartners plant a flower with their mom and the third-graders plant a bulb with the help of (the) W.O.W. team,” Coffelt said.

Students can be seen working in the garden each Tuesday during the summer and Wednesday afternoons during the school year.

“We have had other help in addition to Matt including two parents, Cindy Tarpley and Jeannie Fox, as well as Master Gardener Rosemary Avaritt who recently moved to Edmond,” Coffelt said.

Matt is not finished giving of himself yet. He will be part of the “staff in training” at Slippery Falls Scout Ranch in Tishomingo where he will rotate through areas while learning the different jobs. Next year he plans to go back as a staff member.

Matt is the son of David and Sharon Bailey of Edmond.



pmiller@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 171



W.O.W. members tell why they love the Butterfly Garden

‘I garden all the time with my mom. It’s a lot of fun. Besides, I like worms and bugs.’

Sierra Montgomery

Washington Irving fifth-grader



‘I’ve only been here two times because I like to have something to do in the summer.’

Jake Gully

Washington Irving fifth-grader



‘I love the outdoors. I love planting flowers, and I especially love Black-eyed Susans.’

Shelby Hedges

Washington Irving fifth-grader



The Details

What works best



Host plants for laying eggs found in Butterfly Garden include: Milkweed, sunflowers, parsley and dill plants as well as willow trees.

Nectar plants found in Butterfly Garden include: Lantana, Shasta daisy, butterfly bush, petunias and lilies.