GSI,
Environmental Science and AP Environmental Science students have
been creating a prairie around the campus retention ponds in an
effort to create a living laboratory for ecological studies and
prairie plant identification. It is also the intent of the
project to have the site recognized by the University of Kansas
as a Monarch Migration way-station.
Students from each year have taken a section
of the pond slope, analyzed the soils and selected suitable
plants for the site. Plants were selected by the students,
purchased partly through fundraising efforts and then planted by
the students. The project has also been one that has allowed
participation from a neighboring elementary school (Indian
Trail), where their students have also purchased seeds and plant
starts through grants and then planted them with our students.
In time, these elementary students will arrive at Highland Park
High School with a sense of attachment, ownership and commitment
to the naturalization of the campus.