The Spring Creek Community School’s new, environmentally driven addition to its front entrance is abuzz these days.

Unveiled in a ceremony last Thursday morning (June 29), the grass-filled patch in the middle of the traffic circle is now home to several pollinator garden beds that aim to promote a rise in Whistler’s bee population, thanks to the graduating Grade 7 class as their legacy gift to the school. The project was funded by the school’s Parent Advisory Council, as well as a $3,000 grant from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation’s enviro-fund.

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About 60 students lent their efforts to the process, which included digging out the grass and installing new soil, plants and mulch. They also created educational signs posted by the garden beds about pollination and its importance to the wider ecosystem, as well as the insects that visitors can expect to see in the gardens.

Led by parent volunteer Michele Stalker, the project was carefully researched and planned to avoid plants that would be invasive species or bear attractants, while ensuring that the plants they chose would remain good pollinators and drought-tolerant. The project was pulled together in a matter of weeks, with the team of students carrying out the plan in only four days.

“It’s just trying to enrich the environment and teach them about what’s important in nature. They learned so much about the process, like why we can’t just plant on top of the grass and how we can compost that grass so it will break down, and how compost works,” Stalker said. “When we got the big truckload of soil, it was a mix of manure and other organic matter, and it was hot. The whole process was much more hands-on for them. Instead of just hearing about (how soil works), they were saying, ‘why is this hot?’... It’s because that’s the whole process of nitrogen as it’s breaking down. They really got into the process of learning about the plants, and it’s great for them because now they can come back to the school and it’s a place where they can see how it changes and develops.”

As per one student’s idea, one garden bed is also surrounded rocks, carefully and creatively decorated by the students as a way to leave their individual marks on their hard work. But the project reaches far beyond the Grade 7 class.

While the gardens will be used for years to come by students in Kindergarten to Grade 2 as a place to talk about the lifecycle of the butterfly they learn about as part of their curriculum, students in those younger grades also received seed mixes of pollinator species that they could bring home to plant. “With pollinator gardens, it’s important for them to have a series of gardens to kind of create a network for these insects,” Stalker explained.

It’s an important project amidst a rapid decline in global bee populations, which, should it continue, could spell disaster for the world’s fruit and vegetable production.

The Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE) is also hopping aboard the bee train; hosting its July Green Talk on the subject. Dubbed “What’s all the Buzz About Bees?” the presentation will have Michalina Hunter of Green Bee Honey on hand to discuss wild pollinators and what’s threatening them, as well as what plants are best for a healthy bee population, how to design a pollinator garden and how to provide nesting habitat for solitary bees.

The talk takes place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the museum on Wednesday (July 5).