Health & Fitness
Native Plant Farm Grows at DHS, Will Provide for Community
Students and staff spend winter break on green initiative.
While many of us relaxed over winter break, a small group of students and staff were hard at work.
“I try and help the kids reconnect with nature,” Jeff Hoyer, AP environmental science and biology teacher, said. Hoyer has taught at Deerfield High School for 18-years and has slowly enhanced the natural areas on the school grounds. One of his latest projects includes the construction of flower beds in a school courtyard
that will eventually house native plants.
“Native plants used to be wildly populated in Illinois,” DHS student Benjamin Gartner said and explained that many have gone extinct because of the rapid growth of non-native and invasive species. “We are trying to restore what once was the original environmental state.”
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The plan is to grow native plants like Blue Grass, Pale Purple Coneflower and Little Bluestem in a courtyard at Deerfield High School. The space will not only be used as a classroom but also an area to showcase native plants. Hoyer wants to show
students “how beautiful they are” and said the plants will also “help prevent
global warming and purify the water.”
Once in bloom, some of the plants will be given away to District 113 residents.
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“People look at prairies as weeds,” Hoyer said but sees a future in native landscaping because of water shortages and claimed this project will not only benefit the school district but the entire community.
“With these native plants growing right here in Deerfield, other people and or schools can purchase these plants to grow at their home or school,” Gartner said. “It sparks a trend that will greatly improve our environment.”
Students will start growing seed this spring. Hoyer hopes to start distributing plants to community members in 2013. His goal is to handout at least 500 plants each year.
“I hope future students will take away the seriousness and severity of our current environmental state,” Gartner said. “It is possible to restore our broken ecosystem; all it takes is one person to get the ball rolling.”
