Carlin Coppin School students and teachers recently received a nice surprise as they headed to some of their classrooms.

A magical transformation took place over a winter weekend. Approximately 100 members of a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation and some school staff and family members rolled up their sleeves and pooled their time and energy to create a beautiful reading garden outside several classrooms.

Jennifer Bowden, a longtime Lincoln resident, led the project. She began working with Lincoln’s Lowes store manager Michael Obeso and other employees last August, receiving a $5,000 grant that not only helped with creating a reading garden but allowed landscaping an area in front of the library.

Volunteers arrived early Saturday morning with shovels, rakes and a tractor. In just a few hours, the transformation was complete and the trees, shrubs, rocks walls and decomposed granite paths transformed a previously unusable area into a park-like setting.

Adding concrete benches in the near future will be the finishing touch to this tranquil area.

Teachers report that the new garden created a greater interest in reading. The students enjoy the new look and are anxious to spend time outside with their books. Volunteers felt there couldn’t have been a better way to spend a sunny Saturday.

Lunch was served and clean up completed by mid afternoon.

“It’s amazing how many families participated in this transformation and how excited everyone was to see through to completion,” Bowden said.