Two years of breaking up stones, planting, weeding and occasionally fixing vandalism paid off for 240 current and former students at East Elementary School in Greenville.

Their outdoor habitat recently won the 2002 National Youth Gardening Award.

Seventh-grader Danielle Martin, who worked on the habitat a year ago, said the award recognizes the students' hard work and the people in the community who donated plants and materials.

The award also means plants and other materials will be donated to keep the habitat growing, said teacher Jan Abernathy.

Two years ago, an application for the award was denied for lack of proof that the habitat would be sustained, Mrs. Abernathy said. This year, the judges were convinced that the habitat would be there for life, she said.

Wednesday, eight fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade students who maintained the habitat fielded questions from fellow students during a "news conference" to announce the award.

The ongoing project "takes respect for animals and plants and a lot of hard work to keep it clean," said sixth grader Michael Martin.

Michael described the habitat as "sort of a backup environment for fish" and a place to watch plants grow. His teacher added it proved to be a versatile educational tool.

But it also fell prey to vandalism in the fall. Water sources were drained and a "God Bless America" sign, made up 405 paper cups, was destroyed.

Whenever there was vandalism, "we always fixed it," Danielle said.

The students also worked to keep bird feeders and corn cribs filled, she said.

The students are looking forward to planting flowers in the spring, Michael said.