Gabriella Zamorano (5th grader), Chassidy Zamorano (1st grader) and Andrew Zamorano (2nd grader) stand in front of one of the flower beds at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Rockport, Texas. The sisters and brother attend Sacred Heart School and help with keeping the school grounds beautiful. Sacred Heart School won first place in the school division in the first annual "Rockport in Bloom" contest held this year. Winners were announced in May. There were five divisions in the contest: Residential, Business, Government, Churches, Schools.

"It is all about giving back to God; it is about using your time and talent to praise God," was how parishioner Connie Garcia summed up Sacred Heart Church and School winning honors in the first annual "Rockport in Bloom" beautification award held in 2009.

The "Rockport in Bloom" contest had five divisions: residential, business, government, church, and school.

Sacred Heart Elementary School won first place honors while Sacred Heart Church placed third in the church division.

"I did not know we were even entered in the contest until Sister Jude Janecek told me," said Garcia.

Sister Jude Janecek, a sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, who oversees the RCIA process at the church, stated she entered the church and school on a whim.

"I was at Rockport City Hall in early 2009, and I saw the forms for the contest. I decided to enter the church and school. I filled out the forms and nominated them. So then every one really had to get to work, although the grounds were already pretty nice."

Garcia has been working to make the grounds around the church, school, rectory, and business office look pretty nice for four years.

"I love to garden. Gardening is my therapy. I started working on one side of the church in the court yard area four years ago since we have a social gathering in the courtyard after Sunday Mass once a month. I started small and just began adding in plants and hanging baskets."

As Garcia finished one area, she moved to other areas around the church.

"I developed flower beds in the parking lot of the church. I began planting Easter lilies which were left over after Easter to the flower beds. I put in Iris bulbs, day lilies and roses. In the spring, the flower beds are full of blooms."

Garcia also gardens at Sacred Heart School where her children attended.

A number of the school children and their parents have become involved in developing and maintaining the flower beds encircling the school.

Rosemary Zamorano and her children: Gabriella, a fifth grader, Andrew, a 2nd grader and Chassidy, a first grader, plant, water, and weed the school's flower beds.

Rosemary Zamorano, who works with the extended day program, recently had the school children, who are enrolled in the after school program, plant a vegetable garden behind the school.

"We planted beans, radishes, carrots, and onions. The children work in the garden. The children will harvest the vegetables, and then we will have the vegetables prepared in the cafeteria. The children will get to eat what they grew," explained Zamorano.

While Garcia started gardening alone at Sacred Heart Parish, she now has a group of hard working volunteers including Janie Eichstadt and Alvino Valenzuela.

Garcia and her volunteers completed projects including "sprucing up the rectory yard and adding flower beds at the rectory. We have created flower beds for the business office and added oak trees out front. Alvino Valenzuela built a fence around an outside deck located on the side of the business office, thus enclosing it. We added potted plants and cushioned benches so the employees have a place to relax and eat."

Sacred Heart Parish now has a garden club which welcomes and encourages volunteers to become involved in the planning, planting, watering, weeding and other maintenance of the flower /planted areas of the parish grounds.

"The church has not spent a dime. Everything has been donated. We work with the parish grounds personnel. There are so many ways to give praise and glory to God. This is my way of giving back," said Garcia.