Downtown Greeley is once again looking and smelling beautiful for the summer season thanks to students and volunteers at a local high school. 

Students who took the landscaping, construction and maintenance class at Greeley West High School helped plant flower beds for the summer with the education they received throughout the school year.

"It is pretty exciting; we have been planning this for a while," junior Livia Maldonavo said.

The students not only planted the flowers but also studied the plants, submitted plans for the flower bed designs and also learned about and installed irrigation.

"This has been really exciting, just to see this all come to fruition," senior Andres Garcia-Palacios said. "It is nice to see my plan and be implemented. It is really nice."

"This is two semesters of work with the Greeley students," said Bill Pond, a volunteer and professional landscaper. "I think it is a wonderful community effort, and a very beautiful thing to do to put in a garden and watch it grow."

The plants were donated by several local nurseries in Weld County.

"Northern Colorado is a real hot spot for this kind of work, and we are in need of a workforce," Pond said. "We are trying to get young people to be interested in future employment in the green collar industry."

Tiffanie Becher, an educator at Greeley West, said she loved seeing how the city of Greeley partnered with students and other volunteers to help make the project a reality.

"The kids get to give back to their community," Becher said. "They get to be a part of something bigger than just their little bubble at school."

Becher said she enjoyed seeing the students get away from electronic devices and put their learning to physical reality.

"The little device in their hand consumes most of their time," Becher said. "So this opportunity to be unplugged from any device of any sort -- to get their hands dirty, get in and get deep -- really does give that sense of connection."

"We're being able to give the students of our community hands-on learning and the opportunity to improve their community," said Zachary Jordahl, horticulture lead for the city of Greeley.

The project was part of the final grade for the students.

Students like Maldonavo said they are looking forward to being able to show off all their work to their loved ones as they enjoy summer break in Downtown Greeley.

"I get to tell my family and friends that I did this. It will be a very proud moment," Maldonavo said.