By: Ilyena Valencic, Isabella Ward, and Will Beenders

From January to May of 2025 our Topics in Sustainability class of 8th grade students worked on a project that would not just be school-wide but district-wide. As a class we decided what we wanted this project to focus on bees, biodiversity, and our own campus ecosystem. Our small class of 11 students did many things that focused around these topics: we designed and taught a lesson to children at the Early Childhood Center about bees and their importance; moved the beehives and numerous plants from the former middle school garden which was sold; two students attended an all-day  beekeeping workshop; and we redesigned and replanted the landscaping islands that are in our parking lot to support pollinators. 

We noticed that our parking lot was boring and did not have many bee-friendly plants. So we researched native plants that do well in the harsh site conditions and picked two or three to add to each of the six landscaping islands. We chose flowering perennials in different shapes, colors, and blooming season so the parking lot can look good and support pollinators year-round. We raised the money for the plants by selling our bees’ honey at the ECC Farmers Market. The last weeks of the semester, we prepared the beds and planted and mulched 112 new plants. In doing so, we increased biodiversity, supported our honeybees and other pollinators, and improved how the school campus functions as a sustainable classroom, by giving us a place to continue our long-running pollinator study. Staff and visitors to our school can enjoy the new flowers around our parking lot now and for years to come. We're proud of the impact we made!

Read the individual student responses HERE.