A half-dozen Wisconsin schools have been awarded grants to establish habitat for imperiled insect pollinators and monarch butterflies.
The pollinator habitat grants were awarded to Wisconsin agricultural and science educators by Sand County Foundation and other supporting partners.
Each grant recipient will receive native wildflower seedlings, a training webinar and consultation, and a $1,000 grant for the school district or FFA chapter to offset project expenses.
The schools selected include Cambridge High School, Ozaukee High School, Independence High School, Indian Trail High School & Academy in Kenosha, Sauk Prairie High School, and Waupun Area Junior & Senior High School.
"Students will germinate and grow native plants in late winter, and plant them outside in the spring as an experiential learning opportunity," said Haley Diem, Sand County Foundation school grant program coordinator. "Insect pollinators are essential for crop pollination and ecological diversity. In recent years their numbers are low partly due to loss of native wildflower habitat, especially in the agricultural landscape."
To qualify for the grants, the schools needed greenhouses or suitable indoor growing areas to raise the nearly 600 seedlings of milkweed, prairie blazing star, wild bergamot, and other species they will receive in March. They were also required to identify a rural area where they will transplant these native wildflowers in the spring, and tend to them through the summer.
Categories: Wisconsin, Education