Thanks to our supporters, NRF funded a six-week book club at LEAP Elementary School through our Go Outside Fund. The book club engaged students and their families in rewilding their yards and creating local ecosystems through reading Nature’s Best Hope (Young Readers’ Edition) by Doug Tallamy. Participants discussed and engaged in hands-on activities to learn about native plants, pollinators, and sustainable practices to help foster healthier, more biodiverse environments in their own communities.
Learn more about the project in the guest blog below by Ed Zagorski, originally published by the Watertown Daily Times.
Members of the LEAP Elementary School book club. Photo by Ed Zagorski
This book club is inspiring generations of gardeners
Amy Giannetto and her daughter, Isabella, 9, are planning to “rewild” their yard next spring to create an ecosystem to welcome insects and pollinators helpful to humans.
Giannetto got the idea from her daughter’s book club at LEAP Elementary School where students were inspired by Doug Tallamy’s “Nature’s Best Hope” to promote environmental stewardship and hands-on, project-based learning.
LEAP Elementary School teacher Melissa Prochaska applied for and was awarded a grant from the Go Outside Fund from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin.
[The Go Outside Fund grant] allowed me to order books, journals and plants for the book study. I also sought donations from native nurseries around the state to design and plant their own native garden to join the Homegrown National Park movement.
Beginning stages of a pollinator garden in a book club member’s front yard. Photo courtesy of Melissa Prochaska
Planting milkweed and more for pollinators
The book club helped empower parents and children to become responsible stewards of the land, while building a strong learning community committed to sustainability and ecological care, Prochaska said.
She said milkweed is the monarch butterfly’s favored host plant. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed leaves, which are essential for their development.
“Diverse species of native plants will help attract yellow-banded bumble bees and monarch butterflies,” Prochaska said. “Planting diverse native plants provide blooms for the entire growing season to support our threatened bumble bees and monarchs.”
I liked the book club because we got to spend time learning outside with friends. I really liked taking walks around our school to find that there were more pollinators in our native gardens than there were in the grass.
LEAP students attending a book club session outside. Photo courtesy of Melissa Prochaska
Every native plant makes a difference
Giannetto and her daughter, Isabella, said plants form the foundation of an ecosystem. Wildlife co-evolve with plant communities, and come dependent on specific plant species.
“Every little piece — such as an insect — plays an important role in an ecosystem so when it’s removed it leaves something missing and hurts the ecosystem,” Giannetto said.
Her daughter agreed.
“Everything plays a role,” she said. “It’s important to put native plants in our yards to give pollinators a chance to help the ecosystem.”
Bella and I have completely changed how we look at our yard now. Not only do we get very excited about seeing our native plants come back next year, but we go outside every day looking to see what insects we find.
Students looking through trays of native plants. Photo courtesy of Melissa Prochaska
Lessons from Aldo Leopold
LEAP Elementary School student Bailey Willis, who read “Nature’s Best Hope,” said she learned about famed naturalist Aldo Leopold.
Leopold believed that fewer wolves meant more deer, and he participated in wolf control programs. However, after witnessing the death of a wolf, he realized the complex interconnectedness of ecosystems and the crucial role wolves play as predators. He later understood that the removal of wolves could lead to overgrazing, habitat destruction, and harm to the deer.
“If there is a change to the ecosystem something bad could happen,” Willis said.
A student’s book club packet. Photo courtesy of Melissa Prochaska
By Ed Zagorski, originally published by the Watertown Daily Times
Thank you to our supporters
Support for this project was made possible by the generous support of our donors, supporters, and members. We are grateful to everyone who supports our work to connect people to nature through education.
Donations to our environmental education efforts, including the Go Outside Fund, can be made online here and should be designated to “Environmental Education.”