‘It’s a Wormtopia!' during Master Gardener Visit to Concord

third-grader Stefan said he’s touched about 500 earthworms in his time. 

He got to make it 501 on Wednesday when master gardeners from the University of Illinois Extension visited the school with live red worms.

“You got to put them around your thumb,” Stefan said. “I liked that, because ever since I was little I’ve touched worms.”

Not only did the students get to touch the red worms, they also learned facts about worms, including how many hearts they have (five) and what happens if you cut off a worm’s tail (it grows back).

The students were pretty split on whether getting to touch the red worms was a good thing.

Alyssa said she was initially scared because the worm felt weird. Soon she decided it wasn’t actually so bad.

Diana had a very diplomatic opinion about the worms.

“I don’t hate ‘em,” she said. “But I don’t love ‘em either.” 

Even though Andy said one of the worms peed on his desk, he still had an overall good impression of the slithery creatures. 

“It’s like a wormtopia!” he said.