POLLINATOR STRIPS
CREATING GARDENS WITH STUDENTS TO PROMOTE POLLINATOR HABITAT
Throughout summer 2020, the GOMI team has been strengthening partnerships and assembling materials to create pollinator gardens in schools and communities.
This project highlights the importance of native plant species in pollinator preservation. It addresses the issue of nature deficit disorder, and encourages democratic values, team work, youth empowerment and environmental stewardship through hands-on work.
In the fall of 2020, we are launching the pollinator strip project at Lowell Middlesex Academy and North Shore Montessori School. These two sites will give us the opportunity to see how a pollinator strip project can be applied in an urban or suburban setting.
NORTH SHORE MONTESSORI SCHOOL:
At NSMS, we are working with teachers to set up garden beds for each of four student groups. Here, the students will learn about soil, native species, composting, and pollinators. The focus of the project will be on building in community.
LOWELL MIDDLESEX ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL:
The students of Keeping it Green, the GoM studies course at LMACS, will be partnering with Mill City Grows (MCG), a local organization that runs all of the community gardens in Lowell. The students will volunteer with MCG to create a pollinator strip at their farm, and use the experience to launch a series of modules around pollination and environmental health.
