Stewardship Project Gallery
2020-2021
Embedded Files
The Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative leadership team welcomes school-community teams to the 2021 Lake Superior Celebration.
Here is a transcription of the short welcome message to share as needed.
LSSI Stewardship Projects 2020-2021
LSSI Stewardship Projects 2020-2021
Playing in the Dirt: Bringing Community Together - T.R. Davis Elementary
Playing in the Dirt: Bringing Community Together - T.R. Davis Elementary
K-8 students from Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Schools were hard at work in 2020-21. Students maintained and expanded the school's outdoor learning area and school garden caring for native plants and animals. Additionally, students assisted with creating a community garden for Osceola Township in Dollar Bay.
Outdoor Classroom Ambassadors - Chassell Elementary
Outdoor Classroom Ambassadors - Chassell Elementary
Chassell Township Schools is K-12, but our presentation was created by the 4th and 5th Grade Outdoor Classroom Ambassadors.
Our project was restoring and improving our outdoor classroom at the school, giving students and teachers a place to take learning outside.
Barkell School Garden - Barkell Elementary
Barkell School Garden - Barkell Elementary
Our team included Barkell Elementary staff and students in Kindergarten, First, and Second grades as well as and our Upper Elementary Copper Country ISD students.
Our goal was to fix our garden on the campus of Barkell Elementary School, after it had been damaged from the roof collapse. Students needed to solve problems about watering, planting, making sure that the seeds are planted correctly and how we take care of the plants in the summer.
Courtyard Renovation - Houghton Elementary
Courtyard Renovation - Houghton Elementary
Our K-5 LSSI team at Houghton Elementary School has been working on rejuvenating a neglected courtyard. Plans include two vegetable gardens, a pollinator garden, wheelchair accessible garden boxes, an outdoor classroom, and a rustic natural play space on the playground.
Students are planting vegetable and pollinator gardens in our courtyard. They're planning how to use the planting space, starting with seeds, and caring for the seedlings until ready to transplant into the gardens. They're also learning the importance of supporting bees and butterflies as pollinators, using natural ways to inhibit insect damage such as ladybugs. They're gaining an appreciation for the outdoors and developing an understanding of the importance of preserving natural spaces.
CLK School Garden Refresh- CLK Elementary School
CLK School Garden Refresh- CLK Elementary School
Kindergarten, second, fourth, and fifth grade students have been involved in different aspects of our school garden project here at CLK Elementary (Public Schools of Calumet).
This year's goal was to reestablish our school garden following a construction project. Activities include:
Calumet High School woodworking class built three new beds, which will be used to plant native species, pollinator, and harvest gardens for students to eat at school.
CLK fourth grade students composted lunch food scraps which will carry over into next year's 5th grade science lessons.
Our ultimate goal is school-wide composting storm water collection.
School Garden - Chassell Township Schools
School Garden - Chassell Township Schools
K-12 students at Chassell Township schools have been working to establish a school garden and food forest during the 2020-2021 school year. Funding was provided by the Portage Health Foundation and the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative is a partner in the project.
Our goal is to create a school garden that will provide opportunities for hands-on learning and provide learning opportunities including: sustainability, health and nutrition, local food systems, science and team building.
While We Were Away - Washington Middle School
While We Were Away - Washington Middle School
While We Were Away Washington MS LSSI - Darrell Hendrickson.mp4Grade 7 students from Washington Middle School at C-L-K Public Schools worked virtually to complete their annual stewardship project at Calumet Township Park, creating informative materials (brochures and signs) to educate community members.
Next week the students will gather at the park for a Beach Clean-up activity and their annual community day.
You may also check out videos of last year's projects on YouTube: Adopt A Beach & Removal of Invasive Species.
Perils of (Plastic) Pollution - Hancock Middle School
Perils of (Plastic) Pollution - Hancock Middle School
The goal is to reduce the amount of waste that can move into and contaminate the local water resources and organisms that live there. Students will also create signage to increase awareness of how to properly dispose of solid waste and to encourage their peers and the community to do their part as well, in hopes of keeping our community a safe and beautiful place.
School & Community Garden - E.B. Holman Middle School
School & Community Garden - E.B. Holman Middle School
Click on the video above to watch the Discovering episode which highlights the 2021 work and spring planting
Our Place in the Great Lakes Watershed
EB Holman (Stanton Township) 6, 7, & 8th grades
Our outdoor education model reflects the watershed that we live in. We are enhancing and expanding our outdoor green space at the school. Our goal is to make garden space, beekeeping, outdoor walkways and trails sustainable for the future. The space that we are developing will be used to continue our outdoor education curriculum.
Click on the link to read the Fall 2020 Article: It’s all about the bees - More than 30 pounds of honey collected from school hives
Our Drinking Water - Baraga Area Schools
Our Drinking Water - Baraga Area Schools
Did you know a ditch by the school leads to Keweenaw Bay? Did you know the city of Baraga gets their drinking water from Keweenaw Bay? The 7th and 8th graders at Baraga Schools do. Earlier this winter as part of a Mi-STAR unit, we investigated where our drinking water comes from and what we could do to help protect it. Based on our learning we developed a plan to solve the problem of potentially harmful contaminants getting into our drinking water. On June 8th we put that plan into place, doing a clean-up of the stream next to the school that leads to Keweenaw Bay. The students' actions decreased the watershed's pollution, not only keeping our drinking water safer but all water.
Way to go Vikings!
Lake Perrault Clean-up ~ Jeffers High School
Lake Perrault Clean-up ~ Jeffers High School
Jeffers High School Seventh Grade Students from Adams Township School District Protect Lake Perrault.
As part of a Mi-STAR water quality unit, students were asked to propose a stewardship project which would have a positive impact on a community water resource. Having learned about how human activity, and use can impact the quality of water resources, the students selected a clean up activity for the spring of 2021 at Lake Perrault. Lake Perrault is a Michigan DNR property and has served as Adams Township Schools' outdoor classroom for a number of years. Students collected almost 70 pounds of trash from the access road and picnic area of the lake.
Marine Robotics Monitor for Invasive Species - Dollar Bay High School
Marine Robotics Monitor for Invasive Species - Dollar Bay High School
The science elective, marine robotics, involves students designing, constructing, and testing remote underwater vehicles (ROV) to research a variety of topics below the surface of the water. The greater vision is to create an information-sharing network of ROV research teams throughout Lake Superior, the Great Lakes basin and beyond. Such a network could potentially become part of university research projects by connecting the high school network to researchers in academia. But the first step is to lay the groundwork by getting schools started in using remotely operated vehicles to collect information and high school students to process, analyze and report their discoveries. ROVs are used in partnership with rangers on Isle Royale to monitor zebra mussel populations and as a too for interpretation.
Copper Country ISD Greenhouse Project - CCISD Learning Center
Copper Country ISD Greenhouse Project - CCISD Learning Center
The Copper Copper Country ISD Greenhouse projects is part of the CCISD Community Transition Program. Over the past year the greenhouse, four raised garden beds, and one accessible raised bed were completed. These areas are to be shared by all CCISD programs including Students with Severe Disabilities (PSSD). The students plant seeds for five varieties of tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeño peppers, basil, three varieties of Zinnia flowers, cosmos, and two varieties of Marigolds each year. These plants are sold or donate to the community, providing locally grown sources of food.
8th and 10th graders at Houghton Middle School and Houghton High School learned about White Nose Syndrome and the fate of local bat populations. They toured the Quincy Mine to see prime bat habitat, met with bat experts to learn about bats and how the disease impacts them, and they conducted their own research to learn more. Click here to learn more from the students.
Click here to see the website the students developed for Gratiot River Park.
Horizons is C-L-K's Alternative High School, located in Mohawk, MI. We adopted the Gratiot River Park as our favorite shoreline destination over a decade ago, long before the County bought it and began making improvements. In the early days, our efforts were concentrated on picking up trash. This project gives us a chance to provide visitors with a means to connect more deeply to the Park and to Lake Superior.
Our students created a virtual tour for the most commonly found/ sought rocks and minerals at Gratiot River Park. These rocks tell the billion-year-plus story of the events that created the present-day landscape. We wanted to create an electronic resource that provides visitors with a deeper understanding and respect for Gratiot River Park and Lake Superior. Once this website is published, visitors to the park will be able to take a virtual tour of the park amenities and of the beach cobble before coming to the Park and at the park as well (with their cell coverage).
Getting to Know Osceola Township - Dollar Bay High School
Getting to Know Osceola Township - Dollar Bay High School
Click above to virtually explore Electric Park then and now.
Osceola Township has many historic treasures! Students wanted to help the Township by creating virtual experiences that would promote tourism to these sites, enriching community knowledge of the area's history. The following Osceloa Township locations were highlighted: Electric Park, Dollar Bay, the Copper Country Dairy, Mason, the Dredge, Tamarack City Stamp Mill, and Hungarian Falls.
Dollar Bay High School students researched several local historic sites in Osceola Township and created virtual experience tours. These virtual tours will be available to view on the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area School website and the Osceola Township website.
PRIDE Personal Responsibility Investigation, Discovery and Empowerment - Luther L. Wright Ironwood Area Schools
PRIDE Personal Responsibility Investigation, Discovery and Empowerment - Luther L. Wright Ironwood Area Schools
The focus of the Luther L. Wright Schools (pre-K -12) project is to create outdoor classroom areas, promote school/community pride, participate in outdoor science investigations and field trips to learn about environmental quality and anthropogenic influences and their affect upon the Great Lakes. Building relations across grade levels and throughout our community is also a desired outcome.
School ground improvements build student pride and positive attitudes, strengthens relationships between classrooms and across grade levels, and connects us with our community. Areas of study include:
Soil texture and chemical properties analysis
Improve soil conditions in flower beds adding topsoil and manure
Summer care - possible Summer Garden Club
Assess outdoor learning spaces, feasibility, and district needs
Rehabilitation of School Gardens with Native Plants Connections - L'Anse High School
Rehabilitation of School Gardens with Native Plants Connections - L'Anse High School
Our class is comprised of mostly Freshmen at L'Anse Area Schools. We are brand new to the program as of February of this year.
We focused on food sustainability by partnering with Karena Schmidt and Kathleen Smith from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department who presented to our class regarding native food use and cultural history, even hosting us at their community garden! Karena also donated seeds for our students to plant after weeding the garden beds at school to rehabilitate the gardens. Students planted seeds and we will be planting the seedlings in the gardens before the end of school.
Our River, Our Lake, Our Community - Lake Linden-Hubbell High School
Our River, Our Lake, Our Community - Lake Linden-Hubbell High School
Our team is comprised of 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th grade students at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School. The students steward the Lake Linden Village Sands which is near the school. They design and put up signage informing the community about local flora, fauna, and history. We are also planting native plants out on the sands this week and have / will participate in more related field trips.
Other Notable Student Projects
Other Notable Student Projects
Developing a Virtual Field Experience at Bond Falls - Ewen Trout Creek School
Developing a Virtual Field Experience at Bond Falls - Ewen Trout Creek School
6th grade students and their teachers from Ewen Trout Creek Schools developed a virtual tour of Bond Falls in Ontonagon County, Michigan. Explore the winter scenery with the students to learn about the site and the organisms that live there.
Virtual Field Experience of Baraga County Sites - L'Anse Elementary School
Virtual Field Experience of Baraga County Sites - L'Anse Elementary School
5th grade students from L'Anse Schools developed a virtual tour of various popular tourist site in Baraga County. Explore with the students to learn about these sites and the earth systems interactions.
Winter Survival Skills - Bessemer Middle School
Winter Survival Skills - Bessemer Middle School
Seventh grade students from Bessemer participated in a snow shoeing field trip to Wolverine Nordic Trails in Ironwood as part of their science class with Mr. David Rowe and coordinated by Michigan Tech's Center for Science and Environmental Outreach. While snowshoeing, students thought about how they would prioritize things essential to winter wilderness survival. Students broke into groups to make snow shelters that would provide protection in an emergency situation.
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