GRANTON GOES GREEN
Monday, September 21st, 2009 -- 10:56 AM
An area school is ?going green?.Granton ag instructor Cheryl Steinbach was among a delegation of Granton teachers who attended an Ecological Restoration Institute in St. Point over the summer.
"They focused on the prairie grasses, and things native to Wisconsin that had been lost," she recalls, "then they expanded into the forest aspect and outdoor education."
"It was really on restoring the current sites you have and bringing back some of the things that have been lost over time," she says.
Like many schools, Granton has a school forest. It?s located on STH 73 in the far southern end of the district. It?s too far away to easily be used as an outdoor classroom.
But, after discussing things with UW-St. Point officials who deal with school forests, Steinbach realized they have more than enough undeveloped land on the fringes of the main school campus to start a new school forest.
"We've got softwoods, hardwoods, a very diverse ecosystem. We just have to declare that a 2nd school forest that will open the door for some grant funding," she explains.
Granton's campus consists of about 25 acres, about one-third is forest or prairie land, Steinbach estimates.
The schools ?Green Team? believes the sky is the limit. They envision developing walking trails for educational purposes, but they?ll also be open to the community.
They also plan a large community garden that will bring students and the community together.
"We have actually set Monday, October 19th as the date where we're going to encourage any and all community, staff to get together and help organize. You can come to the meeting and find out more about what we're doing and then pick and choose and area," Steinbach encourages.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.