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St. Michael Bee and Breakfast

Vision

Our School community planted a pollinator garden and a native plants garden to help combat climate change to attract birds, bees, and butterflies. Pollinator gardens foster biodiversity, support our local ecosystems, and help reduce some of the damage of climate change. The pollinator plants attract butterflies and when the butterflies feed on the plant’s nectar they are able to carry the pollen in their bodies and carry the pollen to other plants which include veggies, herbs and more. The same goes for bees. These plants attract bees and bees are crucial for our environment as bees are responsible for food production, in maintaining our crops. With more locally grown crops, we can reduce the large amount of burning fossil fuels that are emitted through food transportation. The Ontario’s native plants that we are planting are important to our local ecosystems as they have evolved here over a very long period. These plants maintain our natural communities and have a vital role in providing food and shelter for native wild animals. These plants improve soil, air and water quality by removing toxins and pollution. A section of the garden will be used to plant lavender plants to help attract more bees and pollinators. We also want to use this section of the garden for our students to use as a Sit Spot. This sit spot will allow students to come out on their break and lunch to relax, be with nature, meditate, or take some time to focus on mental health.

Action

St. Michael’s school is working with our community members, parents, staff, and students to help create and build the pollinator and native plants garden. This is important to our school and our community because it helps to build relationships in a small community like Bolton, and it is a great educational piece to teach the community as a whole, the importance of pollinators and native species. We partnered with TRCA to teach our science classes about native and invasive species, how to grow our on native plants, and to help with the planting of native species in our garden. Our Catholic parent council connected our lead teachers with the Caledon Butterfly Way Project, to help build a garden that supported pollinators, especially butterflies and bees. The volunteers helped our students choose native species that were also pollinators. Our students will be able to visit the pollinator garden and learn about the vital role pollinators play in sustaining ecosystems and strengthen their commitment for a healthier environment. Each department will be responsible for planting a pollinator or native species and share education about the plant of choice on our MicTV spotlights. Our school clubs, science classes, planning for independence program, and other students and staff will be responsible for the planting and gardening. Our construction classes will make bird houses and bee hotels to place in the garden. Our planning for independence classes will care and maintain the garden. We will also have our community and student volunteers that will help care for the plants during the summer season.

Reflection & Celebration

This garden is a great way to combat climate change and to teach our school community about the importance of pollinators and native species. St. Michael’s Bee and Breakfast is a great spot to sit in nature, relax and chat with friends, and a place for reflection and gratitude. As a community we are committed to protect our environment, support our pollinators, and to provide food and shelter for many different species. We are looking forward to seeing all the wildlife that will stay at the St.Michael Bee and Breakfast.

Links

Find us on Instagram @stmthunderscience

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