A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Retired biologist Betsy Dugan explains pollination to children at the school in Wrenshall.
Brett Amundson at Farm LoLa in Wrenshall greets Wrens Club students.
Wrens Club kids do a craft activity, prepare transplants and and pull weeds.
A garden of pollinator plants has been installed in front of the school in Wrenshall.
Children in Wrenshall Community Education’s Wrens Club program are learning about plants and pollination this summer. In mid-June, the Wrenshall Parents in Education group engaged the kids in a daylong activity that included hearing a hands-on presentation by a retired biologist, transplanting a native pollinator-friendly plant to take home, weeding a garden at the school, crafting a solar-powered night light with bee decorations, and visiting a nearby farm that relies critically on natural pollination.
Much of the ground near the school buildings is paved, and the few grassy plots have been largely neglected for some time. Last fall, the Wrenshall PIE used a $7,000 grant and private contributions to put native plants, shrubs, and trees into the ground close to the main school building.
The purpose is educational as well as aesthetic. Children may have acquired ideas that bees and wasps are dangerous, caterpillars are icky and damage leaves, moths are a pest, and more. Opportunities to help youngsters enjoy nature, to supplement their classroom experience, and to enhance their learning environment are projects that PIE has sought out since its inception three years ago.
PIE volunteer Jodi Christensen organized the outdoor workshop. Community Education director Katie Beck and childcare coordinator Amanda Knight helped the participants focus on their tasks. Fourth-grade teacher Suzy Berger employed units of a pollinator curriculum that she is developing for elementary grades. Biologist Betsy Dugan led the content discussion.
Farmer Brett Amundson of Locally Laid Egg Company’s Farm LoLa brought chickens, berries, apples and more to show the youngsters how pollinators play a crucial role in producing the food that goes on our tables. Bee hives tended by Theresa Smith of the Northeast Minnesota Beekeepers Association were a big hit.
The native flower plants, shrubs, and trees around the school are destined to make the grounds attractive and inviting but will also remind folks that nature is always waiting patiently for us to discover her wonders.
