Schoolyard Pollinator Gardens (UTRCA weekly, August 5, 2022)
Fanshawe Community Education staff and Integrated Watershed Management unit staff have been busy as bees helping five Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) schools plant pollinator gardens in their schoolyards! Heeman’s, a local garden centre, grew and supplied a variety of beautiful native plants for the gardens including coneflowers, blanket flowers, bee balm, and stonecrop.
The gardens will provide needed habitat for local pollinator species that are experiencing steep population declines due to climate change, pesticide use, and invasive species. They will also be an ideal space for students to learn about plants, insects, soil health, and other ecological topics. Education staff also provided outdoor programming centred on pollinators and their essential role in ecosystems. The students learned how plants use colour and scent to attract different pollinators, played a matching game between pollinator and plant species, and raced each other in a pollinator relay in their schoolyard.
The participating schools this spring included Lord Nelson Public School, Princess Anne French Immersion Public School, Sir Isaac Brock Public School, Winchester Public School, and White Oaks Public School. Amy Doan, a teacher at Sir Isaac Brock Public School, shared that students enjoyed the day learning with UTRCA staff, saying, “Thanks, UTRCA, for educating us and guiding us through the process! The teamwork was beautiful to see.”
Thank you to the TVDSB for their generous funding and support of this program.