March 15, 2002

The students of Ms. Rohde's fourth grade classroom at Hill Elementary, in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and several local businesses, have developed a wildlife habitat in their school's backyard.

"Because the school backs up to such beautiful woods, we knew this would be perfect for our school," says Ms. Rohde. "I've taken my class on many nature walks. We noticed a lot of garbage and damage to trees and the environment. This is a great opportunity to clean up the land and provide something for the community at the same time."

The wildlife habitat includes a butterfly garden, complete with milkweed plants to attract monarch butterflies, which are becoming endangered due to their loss of habitat. There are paths and benches for walking through and enjoying the woods, as well as indiginous wildflowers and other plants.

The habitat is open to the public. The students are sponsoring a Grand Opening Celebration to be held on April 6, 2002 from 11 am to 4 pm. Refreshments will be served. Students will take attendees on a tour of the habitat and point out plants of interest.