Christine Maedke, Johanna Morrison and Dan Maedke

The team’s innovative teaching idea, the “Honeybee Project,” brings the concepts of life cycle, interdependence, environmental health, and community responsibility to life by immersing students in the raising and caring for honeybees. Through this project, students will construct, monitor and care for their own apiaries in the classroom. They will plant and care for pollinator gardens and will be encouraged to educate others on the role of pollinators in nature, giving students hands-on experiences as they gain a glimpse of the complexities of life, habitats and ecosystems. The goal of the project is to give students the foundation from which they’ll be able to critically evaluate the needs of flora and fauna in an ecosystem and identify human impacts. Additionally, the project includes financial literacy and entrepreneurship components as students will sell their honey and wax products to financially sustain the project.