Going Buggy with Jacksonville Garden Club & Jacksonville Elementary!

by Ethan Robison, Pollinator Pals Education Coordinator

In 2024, just before the soil began to freeze, Pollinator Project Rogue Valley was invited by the Jacksonville Garden Club to give a presentation. This large group of local folks love the life and joy provided by a garden. They listened as PPRV volunteer director Kristina Lefever and Pollinator Pals Education Coordinator Ethan Robison shared the stories and plights of native pollinators and the plants on which they depend. This presentation was the beginning of a lively partnership between the organizations, one which culminated in fourth and fifth grade students from Jacksonville Elementary School designing their own pollinator gardens! 

The Jacksonville Garden Club, with several retired educators amidst its ranks, had been looking for a curriculum to share with Jacksonville Elementary School students.  Inspired by PPRV’s presentation, volunteers from the club, including Deanna St. Marting, Mary Wolf, Lynn Boening, Sue McMurray, Teresa Smith, Tish West, Judy Krogh, Lynette Glaros, Anne Plummer, and Pam Smith, realized that focusing on pollinators was it. 

Several months later, Ethan and Garden Club members met to share ideas for a 5-week elective class at Jacksonville Elementary. Over tea, the group came up with lesson ideas, decided 4th and 5th graders would be the perfect age group to work with, and agreed to reach out to the school. Jacksonville Elementary has a wonderful program where students get to choose an elective class led by community members who cover a wide variety of topics. Visiting every Thursday for 5 weeks, community partners share fun crafts, projects, and lessons with students. 

About this time, PPRV added Eduardo Tovar as a second Pollinator Pals staff member, and he made a huge difference in planning and delivering these lessons. After much deliberation and a follow up meeting, the group decided on the name and description of the lesson: 

“What are bugs good for? Why are there over 780 different kinds of bees in Oregon? How do I make a garden into a haven for critters? What's going on inside a flower? These questions, and more, will be answered in Going Buggy with Pollinator Pals! Join us to investigate pollination, insects, biology, and gardening. We'll use microscopes, practice dissections, play games, and hear from local experts as we explore the natural world from a bug's point of view. We hope to see you there!”

Thanks to a generous donation from the Garden Club, Pollinator Pals staff got to work putting together lessons and activities for the elective. The first lesson was all about the most effective pollinators around: bees! Students learned about the 780+ species of bees in Oregon, and each chose their own species to bring to life. Using wooden 3D puzzles, students built their own bee model based on a native species. But with classes less than an hour long, time ran out and students didn't get the chance to paint their bees that day. 

Volunteers from the Garden Club planning committee helped out with each lesson, aiding Ethan and Eduardo in setting up the room, giving each student a sticker and new pages for their activity book, and sharing their own gardening (and arts & crafts) experience with the students. This was incredibly helpful, especially on the second day, where the kids learned about native plant life cycles, starting with seeds. Each student was given magnifying glasses and microscopes, as well as… beans! Beans are just large seeds, so they are perfect for dissection, since the cotyledon (food for the baby plant), seed coat, and embryo are clearly visible. Volunteers aided students in tearing the beans apart, and then identifying the seeds of various native wildflower species. Plants and pollinators are vital parts of a garden. This lesson helped students begin to understand the connections between all the life in a farm or garden, but also in ecosystems! 

The last two days of the elective were graced with absolutely perfect weather. The class and volunteers sat through a presentation on what pollinator gardens are, and how they can help humans and pollinators alike. Garden Club members even got to show off their own gardens with a mini side show! After the presentation, the group journeyed outside to gather materials like sticks, moss, lichen, and pebbles. These little bits and bobs would become the building blocks of their very own pollinator garden models! Each student selected 2 bee species, a ground nester and a cavity or hive nester. These bees have things they need in their ecosystem, such as soil for nesting, or specific flowers for pollinating; each student’s job was to design and model a pollinator garden that served their bees, as well as humans. 

On the last day of the elective, kids packed up their craft materials and marched out to the playground. With all the craft supplies (stickers, paper, leaves, moss, glue, paint, etc.) and sunshine anyone could hope for, students began bringing their garden designs to life! Ethan heard one 4th grader exclaim “don’t forget the soil for your bee” and another dreamily mumble “my bee pollinates cranberries, so I’m gonna make a cranberry bog.” Each garden was positively glowing with the creativity that these kids poured into their model, and Garden Club volunteers had a great time helping students glue, paint, and create.

As the class period came to a close, each student packed up their workbook, bee model, and pollinator gardens to take home. The Garden Club volunteers and Pollinator Pals staff cleaned up the classroom, and discussed how they would LOVE to do this again! Getting to see students light up with excitement over bees the size of a pinto bean, or the intricate nests of a Bumble Bee, brought so much joy to our hearts. Running this program at Jacksonville Elementary was a huge step for PPRV’s education program, and gave the Garden Club members a chance to share their passion for nature with kids. We look forward to getting that chance again in the future! 

To learn more about Pollinator Project Rogue Valley and our Pollinator Pals program, visit our website here.

To learn more about the Jacksonville Garden Club, visit their Facebook page here.

If you’re interested in joining a local branch of the Garden Club, learn more on the Medford groups Facebook here.