Here’s some news from our industrious Science class! Thank you, Melanie! (K.D.)

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One of the few silver linings of the first year of the pandemic was teaching outdoors as much as possible. This year I wanted to continue using the outdoors as my classroom. Since Ken had just purchased the North Star property in the spring of 2020, it seemed like a good time to see what is here and think about how to be good stewards of this land. Therefore, I decided to use the National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitat Certification process as the basis for my science class. Along with my co-teacher, veteran North Star teen member Max Swartz, and a group that ranged from eight to 20 teens, we evaluated the health of the North Star property based on the diversity of flora and fauna, invasive species that might be harmful, beneficial species that support a healthy ecosystem, sources of food and water, and places for animals to shelter and raise their young.

We have a knowledgeable crew of teens here at North Star! They knew about all kinds of plants—which ones are medicinal and/or edible and which are invasive. Last fall, they foraged some wild grapes and autumn olives and made jam. They also collected, identified, dried, stratified, and germinated native seeds. We kept track of all the animals we observed and the teens were great at spotting all kinds of creatures and knew quite a lot about some of them. We had resident experts on isopods, pollinators, and fungi.

These young folks were not strangers to hard work either. We tore down a dump truck’s worth of invasives with the help of Craig Stevens of LandScapes (and Ken’s bowling league partner) who spent a morning with his crew helping us clear out invasive bittersweet vines and creating a secluded seating area inside a clump of trees. Creating welcoming spaces where teens can be in nature was a wonderful by-product of this project.

During the winter and early spring months, we made and observed self-contained ecosystems, hatched frog spawn, purchased tree ID tags for the seven species of tree teens identified, and planned a pollinator garden and water feature because these were areas we found lacking.

When spring finally arrived, we hustled to build a raised bed, purchase and plant perennials, and install a small water garden. Having met the criteria for a healthy habitat for native wildlife, we applied for and received our certification, adding our property to more than 6,000 others across the country.

The teens have a lot to be proud of. They took on individual projects and sustained them over weeks to months. And they worked hard. Tearing down vines was hard work, as was digging the hard clay soil and building a raised bed.

This coming fall, we’ll start a garden club to continue caring for the perennial bed and water garden and control invasives. We’ll also continue discussing how to be good stewards of this land. If there is interest and enthusiasm there are other projects we could tackle and we could even apply to become an NWF Eco-school.

— By Melanie Dana, Core Staff Member and Science Teacher