NATCHEZ — Students from Fayette AJFC Head Start Center got their hands dirty Friday while learning how the world can benefit from planting and gardening.

Live Oak Landscapes played host to 20 head start students as they were granted the opportunity to plant, watch and learn the trade of a gardener.

“We thought it would be good for Live Oak Landscapes to be seen in a different light,” Administrative Assistant Brittany Anders said. “We want these kids to know that there are several ways to make a living in this field from growing vegetables to working with various construction equipment.”

The students watched a Live Oak employee operate a mini bulldozer, learned about natural resources and learned the different types of plants, which sparked interest in several students.

Xaiven Tenner, 4, said he wants to be a gardener when he gets older.

“I want to grow strawberries,” he said.

Little did Tenner know, he and his classmates would be granted that opportunity.

Tenner picked out his own soil and dirt to start planting a strawberry flower, which he plans to add water to so it can grow properly.

“These children benefit from learning this,” Anders said. “It offers jobs, food and produce — we want them to know that it’s a thing both men and women can partake in.”

Head Start teacher Jessie Dorsey said she wants her students to get a hands-on experience to coincide with what they learned in class.

“Our theme for this month was digging in the dirt,” Dorsey said. “I wanted them to see different things that could grow in the dirt, different jobs that use dirt and different equipment that we could use in the dirt.”

Dorsey said it’s essential that children learn about planting at a young age.

“It’s very important because now they can be exposed to different ways plants grow,” she said. “It also could give them a head start on what types of jobs they might want to do when they get older.”