CURRENT PROJECTS & GRANTS
WEEB Grant
Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) Grant: In May of 2015, the Highland Community School District was a recipient of a grant from the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board. This grant will help to support environmental literacy and land stewardship in our district. More specifically, it will help to support our field biologist position, provide professional development opportunities for staff, provide funding to develop an Environmental Education curriculum and website, and provide new forestry equipment for the district.
Sensory and Vegetable Garden
State Journal Article
Through the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin's Teachers' Outdoor Environmental Education Fund, the Highland Community School District received a grant of $1,000. A portion of this grant allowed the district the ability to obtain materials to build a sensory and vegetable garden. This garden features 4 raised beds that house plants that each appeal to one of the five senses. In addition to these, there are 4 raised beds and 1 pallet garden that contain vegetables, such as squash, pumpkins, and gourds. This project has been primarily driven by the 3rd through 5th grade classes, with middle and high school students helping when needed. This year, students have worked their way through every step of the creation process. They have designed the layout of the garden, researched and chosen the appropriate native plants, staked out the footprint of the garden, moved the existing raised beds, planted the plants, and created the wood chip path for the garden. Our art teacher has also worked with students to create wind chimes that will be featured in the garden. In future years we plan to expand the garden and add new elements. This garden project will provide opportunities for students learn about plant ecology, biodiversity, land stewardship, and environmental literacy, but it also exposed students to the entire process of designing and building a project. |
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Butterfly Garden Expansion
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In addition to the sensory and vegetable garden, the funds provided by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin's Teachers' Outdoor Environmental Education Fund has allowed us the chance to expand the butterfly garden located on the school grounds. The goal of this project is to improve the landscape design on the existing butterfly garden and to expand the garden by adding native plants. This project has been spearheaded by the 2nd grade students, with other elementary classes helping to carry out the plans. Students were involved in each step of the process of creating this garden from start to finish. It began with students spending time researching what plants would be appropriate for the garden and brainstorming layout designs. A group of students presented to our school board to get approval for the garden design. They then moved to measuring and staking the area where the garden would be. Students then planted flowers and mulched the garden, creating a colorful and inviting space for both butterflies and students! |
Prairie Conservation Education Grant
Through the Madison Audubon Society, Highland was awarded the Prairie Conservation Education Grant to help fund our "Taking Flight" curriculum, which provided our students the opportunity to learn about bird habitat conservation through place-based learning during FIELD time. With the grant, Highland was able to purchase materials to build bird houses for the village park, binoculars and bird identification guides, as well as a nature camera. A portion of this initiative involved having educators from the Madison Audubon Society come to Highland to teach elementary and middle school students bird identification skills. Throughout the rest of the year, middle school students utilized these skills to monitor and record the birds on school grounds and to report their findings to the national eBird data collection effort.
More about Highland's story can be found on the Rural Schools Collaborative website.
More about Highland's story can be found on the Rural Schools Collaborative website.
Eagle Optics
Eagle Optics very graciously donated binoculars to the district to help support the work being done through the "Taking Flight" curriculum.