Anna sat at her desk trying to focus on her arithmetic lesson, but it was hard to concentrate. Her teacher, Mrs. Peterson, had just turned on the classroom radio for the daily war news. Anna's older brother, Tommy, was a soldier fighting somewhere far away in Europe. Every night, Anna's family gathered around their radio at home, hoping to hear good news.
Mrs. Peterson turned off the radio and looked at the class with determination in her eyes. "Children, I know these are difficult times. Many of your families are struggling because food is rationed and hard to find. But I have an idea for how we can help. We're going to plant a Victory Garden!"
"What's a Victory Garden?" asked Peter from the back row.
"It's a garden where we grow our own vegetables," Mrs. Peterson explained. "All across America, families are planting Victory Gardens to grow food for themselves. This means more food from farms can go to our soldiers overseas. If we plant a garden here at school, we can grow vegetables for all our families!"
The next week, Anna and her classmates got to work. With permission from the principal, they dug up a section of the playground near the fence. The boys turned over the soil with shovels while the girls pulled out rocks and roots. Anna's hands got blistered, but she didn't mind. It felt good to be doing something to help.
They planted seeds for tomatoes, green beans, carrots, lettuce, and squash. Mrs. Peterson made a chart showing which students would water and weed each week. Anna signed up for every slot she could. After school, she would rush to the garden to check on the tiny green sprouts pushing up through the dark soil.
All summer long, Anna tended the garden. She pulled weeds in the hot sun. She watered the plants when it didn't rain. She chased away rabbits that tried to nibble the lettuce. Slowly, the plants grew bigger and stronger. Green tomatoes appeared on the vines. Bean pods hung heavy from their stalks.
In September, the garden was overflowing with vegetables. The class harvested baskets full of food. Each family got to take home fresh produce. Anna's mother cried when Anna brought home tomatoes, carrots, and beans. "This will help us so much," Mama said, hugging her tight. "You've done something wonderful, Anna."
That night, as Anna helped her mother cook the vegetables for dinner, she felt proud. She couldn't fight in the war like Tommy, and she couldn't work in a factory like her aunt, but she had grown food. She had helped. One tomato, one bean, one carrot at a time, Anna was doing her part to help America win the war.