Planting the Future Section

Polaris Schoolyard Habitat
by Mark C. Mollan

Clad in hip-waders on a cool Alaska afternoon, seventh grader Gina Turrini and 11th grader Kyra Rice squat in mud on a pond bank replanting cattails rescued an hour earlier from a nearby highway expansion project. Across the field—a five-acre plot rescued from developers—rubber-booted seventh grader Kevin Mauri helps schoolmates Josh Schraer and Ty Wardell move tree stumps and branches to create a haven of brush for birds and small animals. These students at the Polaris K–12 School in Anchorage are all working in their Schoolyard Habitat, an innovative program supported by the Alaska office of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as part of the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program.

Of the thousands of backyard habitats certified by the NWF in schools, corporate parks, and homes nationwide, the Polaris Schoolyard Habitat is unusual because it involves students in every stage of the habitat’s development. Teachers guide classroom discussions on how to design harmonious environments for animals and reestablish native plant species in the habitat, while extra-curricular student and teacher planning committees put these ideas into practice.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL
The development of the schoolyard habitat is typical of Polaris K–12 School’s innovative approach to education. An alternative education facility for Anchorage school children, Polaris was founded in response to requests by parents for holistic—or all-embracing interdisciplinary—educational programs. Because few buildings were available to the emerging school, Polaris founders renovated an old movie theater. When the school opened in 1994, the surrounding industrial park offered little space for outdoor activity. But in 1996, the school was able to purchase five acres of wetlands that had once been targeted for development. The school initially planned to use the site for a multi-purpose sports facility, but the NWF came forward with an intriguing counter-offer.

“We had been looking for a school in Anchorage to create Alaska’s first schoolyard habitat, and Polaris couldn’t have been more ideal. The school’s flexible curriculum and community involvement, combined with the wetland ecosystem right out their back door, are the perfect mix, ” recalls Kristin Siemann, the NWF coordinator for the project. “We wanted to highlight the values of Alaska’s wetlands not only for the environment, but also for education and recreation.”

Polaris teachers, students, and parents met to consider the NWF proposal. After much discussion, they voted to set aside half of the land for the habitat and use the remainder to build a sports field. Once the decision was made, the school called on students, parents, and local businesses for support. “Parental and student participation is a fundamental principle behind the school,” explains Mark Lyke, a Polaris science teacher and director of the habitat. “Parents must apply with their children to enroll in the school and demonstrate that they will take an active part in their kids’ education, as well as support and engage in school activities. Also, we really didn’t have a budget for the habitat, so community donations of time and supplies were imperative.”

The community response was overwhelming—Polaris received donations, grants, and in-kind contributions worth more than $115,000. Landscaping companies donated plants, trucking companies delivered heavy supplies and trees, and a fence company provided the perimeter enclosure.

HANDS-ON EDUCATION
Short courses called “intensives” that are held between semesters at Polaris have provided extra labor for the habitat and a unique educational opportunity for the students. Students in intensives take a class several hours a day for three weeks to study subjects not offered in the standard curriculum. Last year, almost 50 students took the habitat intensive. “I had to get a second instructor because more than twice the number of expected students signed up,” Lyke says.

Students in the habitat intensive toured several gardens in the Anchorage area to get ideas for their own gardens. “The first two weeks of the intensive we spent learning to design a garden,” says Janet Willis, a ninth grade student. “We then designed one for the habitat and put it together ourselves.”

Lyke ensures that educational uses of the habitat span every subject. “Science instructors take advantage of the living laboratory by teaching about wetland ecosystems, water quality and biofiltration, wildlife adaptation, native plant botany, and regional weather patterns and microclimates,” he says. Students also use their mathematics skills to run the financially self-sustaining charity garden, which produces vegetables and potatoes to be donated to Bean’s Cafe, a local soup kitchen.

And instead of ignoring the harsh Alaskan winter, Polaris designed its curriculum to take advantage of the short, frigid days. “We never would have started this project if it were only a summer fling,” says NWF coordinator Siemann. “Alaska’s wetlands are buzzing with animals and activity all through the winter. There are great natural events for students to be able to study and document over time.” Some wintertime studies include sub-snow photosynthesis, winter pond ecology, animal tracking, and the physics of snowshoes.

Some nearby schools are keeping a watchful eye on the progress of the habitat. Inlet View Elementary, an Anchorage neighbor, is planning to develop a similar program. When that habitat opens, Inlet and Polaris students will share their experiences via e-mail. “Being the first habitat in Alaska, we realized we had a certain responsibility to do the project well so that our experience could serve as a model for future school programs,” says Lyke. “But our situation is also quite unique. Because we are a K–12 school, students that start and finish their primary and secondary schooling here will spend a large part of their lives growing up with the habitat. This will not just be an outdoor laboratory for the school, but a daily enhancement in these kids’ lives.”

Mark C. Mollan is communications assistant at the American Horticultural Society.

For more information on the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Habitat Program, write to the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program Office, 8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184–0001; call (703) 790-4434; or visit the NWF Web site at www.nwf.org.