A backyard pond dug by a 14-year-old Virginia girl for a 2017 school agriculture project has, nine years later, grown into a certified wildlife habitat, drawing toads, treefrogs and native plant life, according to a National Wildlife Federation report.

What began as a school assignment with a shovel and a patch of ordinary lawn has, nine years later, become a miniature wildlife sanctuary in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. In 2017,…

A backyard pond dug by a 14-year-old Virginia girl for a 2017 school agriculture project has, nine years later, grown into a certified wildlife habitat, drawing toads, treefrogs…