Charles City among Iowa schools helping promote pollinators

To The Press

Sand County Foundation is awarding pollinator seed starter kits to Charles City High School and nine other Iowa schools, the organization announced.

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,” said Haley Diem, Sand County Foundation education and outreach specialist.

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,” Diem said. “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 said.

The kits were awarded to nearly 70 schools throughout Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In addition to Charles City, selected Iowa schools are Belle Plaine Junior-Senior High School, Coon Rapids-Bayard CSD, Waterloo East High School, Graettinger-Terril High School, Kingsley-Pierson High School, Lone Tree Schools, New Hampton High School, MMCRU High School in Marcus and Waterloo High School.

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. For more information, visit www.sandcountyfoundation.org/schoolgrants.