Special to The Truth
Hawkins STEMM Academy in Lucas County was recently dedicated as a WILD School Site, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Wild School sites are supplementary education programs created by schools where students, teachers, and the community can come together and learn about wildlife and the environment. Hawkins STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) Academy is the 211th WILD School Site in Ohio and the sixth in Lucas County. This is the first Toledo Public School to be certified as a WILD School Site.
Students created a certified monarch waystation to provide nectar sources and host plants for monarch butterflies. They also wrote a Hawkins STEMM Academy Monarch Pledge based on the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge signed by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz in 2021. The Hawkins STEMM Academy Monarch Pledge was signed by Mayor Kapszukiewicz, principals, teachers, and students.
In addition to a monarch waystation, Hawkins STEMM Academy also has a prairie, an important habitat for pollinators, birds, bats and other small mammals, snakes, and more. The students explore and research this habitat to become conservation stewards. This WILD School Site will continue to raise awareness about monarchs for students and adults alike, while serving as a community science project.
The WILD School Sites program, administered in Ohio by the ODNR Division of Wildlife, is considered an action extension of the national Project WILD program. Any educational property used by students, educators, and the local community as a place to learn about and benefit from wildlife and the environment can be certified. The sites function within the premise that every site, regardless of size and location, can provide outdoor educational opportunities that can and should be part of an integrated environmental education program. WILD School Sites that demonstrate program development and site enhancement consistent with the premises outlined in this program are eligible for certification as an official Ohio WILD School Site.
Learn more about WILD School Sites and outdoor education opportunities at wildohio.gov.