The United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service has partnered with Snyder Park Elementary and the Springfield City School District to develop a natural habitat area on the school grounds of Snyder Park Elementary. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday, May 15th at Snyder Park Elementary (1600 Maiden Ln., Springfield, OH 45504).
The goal of the partnership, which is possible through a grant from the US Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, is to provide students an opportunity to positively impact the local environment by meeting a challenge to improve habitat for wildlife in the Springfield community. Through research, students can design and implement a plan to enhance or create insect habitat, provide nesting sites for birds, plant native plants or even remove weeds and invasive plants from the school grounds. While the schoolyard habitat project focuses on improvements in habitat for local wildlife, students can also benefit from the addition of natural features, such as nest-boxes, plants and flowers. The students have more opportunities to explore and examine the natural world during recess, to participate in investigations during class time or even to just get an emotional boost from seeing brightly-colored flowers as they travel to and from school.
Planting for the natural habitat will begin on Wednesday, May 17th at Snyder Park Elementary. Students and staff will take part in creating the habitat, which will end up taking several years to completely develop.