There’s nothing quiet about 30 Bedford Hills Elementary School students on a hot Wednesday afternoon, but no one is telling them to keep it down.

The group of second-graders is part an intergeneration garden education program called Roots and Shoots, which gives students hands-on learning about the great outdoors while incorporating SOL objectives.

“They are very enthusiastic. The kids are fired up about putting their hands on something. They don’t really realize they’re learning,” said Lora DeVan, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah earth education coordinator.

The camp, the school, the “roots” that volunteer and Lynchburg Grows, which received a grant to aid the project, partner to make the program possible. Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, which is located on Boonsboro Road, backs up to the school.

“The philosophy is pairing the older generation with the younger generation,” DeVan said, explaining that the roots, usually parent volunteers, support the shoots.

Students’ excited chatter in the hallways sounded like chaos. But once outdoors, the sounds melted into the background as DeVan led students through a wooded path to the garden.

The three-minute walk through the forest took students by all sorts of landmarks, including a makeshift bridge, an abandoned pavilion and plenty of spice trees, which DeVan said smell like Froot Loops cereal.

“For kids who live in the city, this is wilderness to them,” she said.

The after-school program started in March and concluded with a garden party Wednesday, where parents came to see the garden created by the students over the past few months. Over a dozen garden beds house everything from lettuce and beets to peas and sweet corn.

Roots and Shoots participant Carter Leverette and his two friends (the self-described three musketeers) raced around the garden. Beads of sweat trickled down the side of Carter’s face.

 “We’ve been eating peas and spicy leaves and salad,” he said.

His favorite part about the program was planting plants. The most important garden lesson he’s learned?

“It’s hard work.”

Chelsey Brown is more precocious than her rough-and-tumble classmate, Carter. She quietly showed her mother, Denise Brown, around the garden.

 “She’s had such a great time,” Denise said. “She’s talking about the garden all the time.”

Chelsey said she brought home all sorts of produce for her mother, including beets. Her mother laughed.

“Mama doesn’t like beets,” Denise said with a smile.

She said everything else her daughter brought home was terrific.

“It’s wonderful. Hands-on is the way they learn and they take pride in learning,” she said.

At the other end of the garden, students and parents marveled at sunflowers taller than most students. Others collected the ingredients for a fresh salad. Some students even pulled beets right from the soil, many of which were the size of their hands.

One of Heather Royer’s sons is a second-grader in the program. She said he’s enjoyed it tremendously and it’s provided him with a wealth of knowledge.

“I think it’s wonderful because they learn so much more because it’s hands-on. Some of these kids don’t even know where their food comes from,” Royer said. “They don’t know where a carrot comes from or what it looks like.”

Students also learned about insects, spiders, photosynthesis, composting, worms, herb gardens and Colonial history.

“They’re just fascinated by the fact they’re able to grow this and then able to pick it and eat it,” Royer said.