Wellspring Education Center: Teens write and receive grant to educate peers on bees

Bee Educated – Wellspring Teens Write and Receive Grant to Educate Peers on Bees


Contact: Francie Szostak

Education Director

Wellspring Education Center and Organic Farm

Email: wellspringeducation@gmail.com

Phone: (847) 946-5565

At the 2014 Lead2Change, Dream Big! Event, held at the Wisconsin Center on August 8th, teens in the Wellspring Education Center program, Agricorps, were awarded a grant of $5000 to fund an initiative of their own design that will help teach fellow students about the importance and impact of honey bees, and other pollinators, on the local food system.

DreamBig! is an annual grant program that disburses two $5,000 grants to youth groups who respond to the question, “What would you do with a $5,000 grant to make your community better?” To answer that question, the Agricorps teens dreamed up a program titled Bee Educated, that includes curriculum and activities to teach groups of students visiting Wellspring on field trips and summer camps about bees.

“Many kids don’t realize the importance of bees or that bees are starting to get sick and disappear,” says Aisling Murran, a teen in the Agricorps program. “Also, kids don’t know how many of the foods we eat would disappear with out bees! Most people don’t know that without bees, we would not have foods like blueberries, apples, bread or chocolate!”

Sesha Bell, a fellow Agricorps teen, says the other major part of the project is to teach kids how to not be fearful of bees. “So many kids are afraid of bees, but they are really confusing them with wasps. When you look at the two, honey bees are built like a passenger plane, designed to travel around collecting honey and pollen, where as wasps are built like fighter pilots, meant attack. When kids learn the difference between the two, they are less afraid,” says Bell. “With the Bee Educated program, we will also teach kids how to act around bees, like to stand still like a tree instead of waving your arms around. We call this polite bee-havior!”

In addition to an educational hive and support from the local organization BeePods, the $5000 award covers the cost of field trips and transportation to Wellspring for classrooms who might not otherwise have the opportunity to visit and learn about bees. Interested classrooms and teachers should contact the Wellspring Education Team for more information. Schools in Ozaukee, Washington and Milwaukee counties are eligible.

“We are so excited to have been given this chance,” say Bell. “Through this grant we will be able to teach so many kids and spread the BUZZ!”

Agricorps is a summer learning program at Wellspring Education Center and Organic Farm that teaches youth business planning skills through organic farming. Agricorps members receive educational lessons and lectures from local farmers and business people, and participate in hands-on farming/gardening activities, all with the goal of learning skills that can be applied to a career in sustainable agriculture or any future endeavors.

To learn more about Agricorps, Wellspring and the Bee Educated Program – please visit http://www.wellspringinc.org..