Thirty-seven 2nd and 3rd grade students at North Fork Elementary School participated in the PHLOW Grow a Garden program this spring.
This was the first time Cacapon Institute worked with lead instructor Pam Waybright to improve their campus and enrich student learning.
This spring students planted a native rain garden to beautify the schoolyard. Cacapon Institute led students in four one-hour classroom education lessons to introduce students to watersheds, stormwater pollution, benthic macroinvertebrates, and the role that rain gardens play in healthier streams and productive pollinators. Students investigated the role of rain gardens to protect our streams and restore habitat.
Students assisted in the planting of almost one hundred native flowers and shrubs in their rain garden which were obtained from Environmental Concern Nursery. Groups of students assisted with planting, weeding, and mulching the area and will continue to care for the plants over the seasons. The Grow a Garden program is teaching students about the critical importance of having native gardens in our communities to reduce the amount of pollution entering our streams and create habitat for native pollinators.
