MONTICELLO - When she first heard about the planned trip to Allerton Park to plant trees, Ashlyn Gorsuch, a ninth-grader at Phoenix Academy, was not too thrilled.

"I thought it would be boring, and we'd get dirty," Ashlyn said Wednesday morning, after she and her classmates completed the task of planting 30 blue spruce seedlings. "It turned out to be fun. I learned a lot about soil and minerals."

Ashlyn, 15, and 21 classmates did get their hands dirty as they dug holes, inserted the tiny seedlings, mulched, watered and installed protective cages.

The idea was to bring the Decatur students to Allerton Park - a 1,500-acre site near Monticello covered with woodland trails, rolling meadows and manicured gardens - to enjoy the park and perform community service.

Ashlyn wore a bright smile as she helped build the windbreak for Allerton's Diversified Farm greenhouse, where many of the park's young plants are nurtured.

"I've never been to the country," Ashlyn said, as she stood on the edge of a farm field bordered by a grove of tall trees. "It's new for me. I think it's peaceful. It's calm. No drama."

Kim Scheuermann, math teacher in Phoenix Academy's secondary wing of seventh- to ninth-graders, said she decided to take the young people to Allerton after WCIA-TV offered her a tree for each student in honor of Arbor Day on April 25.

"This gets them out of the classroom," Scheuermann said. "Most of them never had this experience before. This was an opportunity to get them out of Decatur."

After Brett Embry, 14, planted three seedlings, he said he would like to land a job at Allerton someday.

"I'm used to doing this kind of work, because I plant vegetables with my grandpa," Brett said. "I like getting my hands dirty. It's better than being clean."

Donovan Drake, 13, worked hard dumping loads of wood chips from three wheelbarrows and planting a tree.

"I don't really mind working," Donovan said. "It's better than being in school. You have more fun here than you have there."

Donovan had just one complaint.

"The only thing I'm bummed about: I'm not getting paid for this," the young worker said.

After the students received box lunches on the lawn near the Allerton Mansion, they planned to take a hike on one of the forest trails.

Ashlyn said she was really looking forward to it because she had never been on a hike.

"As long as there ain't no snakes around or anything scary," Ashlyn said.

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 421-6985.