When students and teachers enter Knox Elementary School each morning, they are no longer in Selma.

It is as if they have left the world behind them and entered into a tropical oasis, a place where learning and creativity have combined to make going to school a unique experience.

The main entrance hall at Knox is filled with tall palm trees, bright sunshine, blue sky and exotic animals peering out of every corner.

Further down the hallway there is an ocean full of fish making their way across the school.

Of course, it is all made of plastic, paper, cardboard and a little make-believe, but it is exactly what the students needed to get them excited about learning.

“The kids are really into it,” said Knox Principal Jocelyn Reddick. “I brought my five-year-old daughter to the school before it opened and her first reaction was ‘wow’. That was the same reaction I got from my parents and students when they came in the first day of school.”

Reddick’s theme for the school this year was inspired by a summer vacation to South America, where the tropical rain forests of Belize and Cozumel made her realize that many Knox students had never heard of these places.

“Most of my students have never left Selma or Alabama,” Reddick said. “I want to use this theme to teach them about geography and take them round the world to learn about the different ecosystems.”

Starting with the entrance hall representing the tropical region, each hallway represents an ecosystem.

“I’m still not finished. I want to eventually make the cafeteria into the desert,” Reddick said.

It took the principal and a few of her staff about a week to decorate the school, with some of the materials donated by a local retail store.

Throughout the year Reddick plans to continue with her geography theme by announcing a Place of the Week, where a different country is pointed out on a map and students are given information about the region.

“We are also going to be building on their vocabulary,” she said. “We already taught them what ecosystem means, now we are moving on to habitat and biosphere.”

Students will also get small rewards for answering questions about science and vocabulary.

Reddick said Knox is carrying the theme as a “ecosystem for learning”

“I’m hoping to get funding for more books that kids can read while they are waiting on their parents to pick them up,” Reddick said. “This is my second year here and we are moving in the direction I want to be in.”

With the school’s new look and theme, Reddick is hoping her students will be encouraged to one day become top-notch professionals and see the world they are learning about.