Wisconsin Schools Help Promote Pollinators

Sand County Foundation is awarding pollinator seed starter kits to 22 Wisconsin schools.

The seed starter kits give K-12 students hands-on experience growing and planting milkweed and other pollinator-friendly wildflowers. Insect pollinators and monarch butterflies are essential for food production and ecological diversity, but their populations are at risk.

The selected schools are:

Amherst Middle School, Amherst

Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Elementary School, Arbor Vitae

Beaver Dam High School, Beaver Dam

Flambeau Schools, Tony

Genesee Lake School, Oconomowoc

GROW La Crosse, La Crosse

Independence High School, Independence

Indian Trail High School and Academy, Kenosha

Lafollette High School, Madison

Lincoln-Erdman Elementary School, Sheboygan

Little Chute Middle School, Little Chute

Mary D. Bradford High School, Kenosha

Merrimac Community School, Prairie du Sac

North Division High School, Milwaukee

Northern Ozaukee High School, Fredonia

School District of Gilman, Gilman

School District of Waukesha-Environmental Education, Waukesha

Severson Learning Center, Cambridge

St. Paul’s Lutheran School, Sheboygan

Wildland School, Fall Creek

Wingra School, Madison

Yahara Valley Elementary, Edgerton

The kits were awarded to nearly 70 schools throughout Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Sand County Foundation is a national non-profit that champions voluntary conservation practices by farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners to improve soil, water, and wildlife habitat.

“Students are sowing native wildflower seeds over the winter and will transplant them outdoors in the spring as an experiential learning opportunity.” said Haley Diem, Sand County Foundation Education and Outreach Specialist. “Many schools are excited by this project because students of any age can participate, and it does not require a lot of time and resources.”

Each school received enough seed to grow at least 100 seedings, which they can use to establish a pollinator garden or as a giveaway to the community.

“Many native wildflowers require little maintenance while providing habitat and a food source for insect pollinators and monarch butterflies, year after year,” Diem added.

This first phase of the seed starter activity serves about 8,300 students. Sand County Foundation expects to accept applications for another round of schools to apply for seed starter kits in late 2025. To learn more, visit www.sandcountyfoundation.org/schoolgrants.

This work is made possible thanks to financial support from Syngenta, Monarch Joint Venture, U.S. Forest Service International Programs, We Energies Foundation, and Sand County Foundation’s Haglund Ecology Fund.