WEBSTER PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A school in Webster Parish is the first in Louisiana to build a special tool to save an iconic, royal butterfly species.
Students of Sibley are outside Lakeside Junior and Senior High School learning about nature and the vital role of plant life affecting the ecosystem.
“I’ve learned that planting just one plant can help a lot of animals,” said student Prentiss Mills.
The school has a new pollinator garden where students planted a very important milkweed plant and watched their efforts come to fruition.
“We’ve been growing them since last year, so today we went out there and learned how to plant them and what it would do for the environment,” said another student, Khloe Davidson.
Milkweed is crucial for the survival of the monarch butterfly. Monarchs only lay their eggs in milkweed plants. They have become a threatened species because of deforestation and climate change affecting their migration pattern. The monarch’s numbers are down by nearly 99% in just two decades, so the species faces extinction. That’s why Sibley students are stepping in to help. The milkweed will attract the monarchs to lay their eggs and boost their population as they fly north from Mexico from their winter hibernation.
“I hope that the kids will understand that even small changes that they make in everyday life can have a big impact for organisms,” said science teacher Angela Glasscock.
Lakeside School is the first school in Louisiana to cultivate a pollinator garden alongside the non-profit Quail Forever, which supports conservation efforts.
“What gets me up in the morning is that I get to change the Earth. I get to save the Earth. I get to save wildlife habitats. If we can have more of those people who have that passion and that drive, whether they become a wildlife professional or not, if they have that small inclination that ‘I need to support these pollinators or save this wildlife habitat or this Earth’, we make this Earth a better place,” said Quail Forever biologist Sabrina Claeys.
The garden will also grow to bring in more insects such as beetles, ants, and the critically-needed pollinator, bees.
The garden will be in full bloom by the time the students graduate.
