Exchanging the Environmental Education Curriculum of the Marshall School District by Restoring a Native Plant Community, Developing Cross-Curricular Learning Materials and Providing Opportunities for Teacher Inservice Training in Utilizing the Site Effectively

Abstract

This paper documents the enhancement of the environmental education curriculum of the Marshall Public School District. A collaboration with the Marshall Area Historical Society was undertaken in the fall of 1999, having as its central focus the reconstruction of Marshall's one room schoolhouse, Box Elder, in conjunction with a prairie restoration. This partnership strove to connect students with their surrounding community by bringing together people of all ages, as well as giving Environmental Education in the Marshall School District cohesion and active learning experiences. Support was sought from many sources including the Marshall School District PT A, school administration, the Marshall Area Historical Society and the Marshall School District faculty. Money was raised in the spring of 2000 by the Marshall PTA. During the 2000-2001 academic year, the Marshall School District joined the Earth Partnership Program, sponsored by the UW-Madison Arboretum. This program provided staff training in prairie restoration in order to integrate ecological concepts into all subject areas and grade levels. It gave teachers direct, hands-on experiences that can be applied in the classroom and utilized with students. During the summers of2000 and 2001, a total of five teachers and two Marshall Area Historical Society members, representing the Marshall School District and Community, received four weeks of intensive training in prairie restoration and maintenance. In the fall of 2001, Marshall School District teachers, grades PK-8, were surveyed to document their potential interest and willingness to participate in prairie restoration. Teachers were asked seven questions spanning from the importance of environmental education to their interest in restoring and utilizing an outdoor natural area with their students. Staff members were also asked if they would be willing to work with community organizations and members, such as the Marshall Area Historical Society, in order to preserve the educational and ecological history of Marshall's first one room schoolhouse and its surrounding environment. During the 2001-2002 school year, the Marshall Early Learning Center (grades PK-2) planted a butterfly garden to serve as a species garden for the prairie restoration which will be planted in the fall of 2004. A collection of curricular materials, the Prairie Pack, was organized for teachers in order to utilize the site effectively. Mini-inservices were conducted by fellow staff members, trained in the Earth Partnership program, to assist teachers in integrating Prairie Pack activities into their curriculum.