Stevens Point is looking for a school to make a rain garden

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) - Recycling Connections is looking for a school in Stevens Point that wants to plant and grow a rain garden. With the help of Stevens Point Public Utilities, they’ll pay for and help install the garden.

There is no doubt the rain garden at James Madison Elementary in Stevens Point made it more beautiful, but it also helps the environment thrive.

“It adds pollination for our great declining pollinator across the country and the world,” said Susan Schuller, Program Director of Recycling Connections.

Bumblebees joined a long list of pollinators on the endangered species list this year. The rain gardens on the elementary school’s campus are helping bring them back.

The City of Stevens Point Director of Public Utilities said the gardens will also help with limiting water pollution.

“A rain garden is a treatment method, we’d call it a best management practice, to ensure that you are doing everything you can to reduce or remove pollutants from stormwater before that water is infiltrated back into the ground,” said Joel Lemke, City of Stevens Point Director of Public Utilities.

Controlling the flow not only protects the contents of the water, it also protects students from potential hazards.

“It protects stormwater runoff, so these gardens hold water on-site better than perhaps grass or of course pavement, and so these gardens can slow that water flow so it’s not creating ice dams on sidewalks and creating a hazard for students,” said Susan Schuller, Program Director of Recycling Connections.

It will also serve as a learning opportunity for children. Several groups are working together to make it happen, like Stevens Point Public Utilities. They’ll be providing funding and working with the kids.

“This interaction with students will be really valuable because you show them this early on, especially in their school career and they can carry that with them,” said Lemke.

Students will have hands-on opportunities to work with the garden and learn from it from community experts.

“What are you teaching in the classroom? ‘Hey, you want to do some soil testing?’ let’s talk to our group of experts and see if someone can come in and talk to you about soil health,” said Schuller.

You need a team of four parents, faculty and/or students to take on the 12 to 18-month project. To learn or apply click here.