Middle school students visiting the Great Smoky Mountains in September 2007 noticed magnificent hemlocks defoliated by the woolly adelgid and took that unsettling memory back to their hometown school.  Working with their language arts teacher, they spent the rest of the school year learning about the impact of invasive pests, particularly introduced pest plants.  The language arts teacher optimized on their genuine concern and facilitated student collaboration with local organizations to create a public awareness campaign about removing pest plants and planting native plants. Middle Tennessee State University Center for Environmental Education, Stones River National Battlefield staff, Children’s Discovery Center Museum, Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, Stones River Watershed Association, the USDA NRCS at Alderson, West Virginia, and Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Greenway staff provided resources and support throughout the school year. Student teams researched the benefits of planting native plants, read technical reports about invasive exotic plants, participated in interactive lessons, and created multimedia presentations.  Student teams wrote letters to government agencies and businesses requesting appointments to talk about planting native plants; twelve organizations responded.   Students were concerned about asking their contacts to remove invasive plants and plant native plants without knowing the status of their schoolyard. After conducting an inventory of their school grounds using the National Wildlife Federation checklist, they learned about the plants at the school and were able to certify the schoolyard in the process.  Families became involved when more than sixty students and their parents participated in a restoration project on the local greenway that involved invasive pest plant removal and native grass planting.

Results/Conclusions

Presentations were given to organizations such as the city and county school boards, city and county planning commissions, a medical clinic under construction, the Agricultural Extension office, Bridgestone manufacturing, and banks. Each presentation was unique and included video segments filmed by the individual teams with original narratives about planting native plants.  Teams also produced an informational sheet for the organization to keep after the presentation.  The language arts teacher’s goals were for her students to learn how to read, write, speak, and listen for an authentic purpose. Using the concept of invasive species, her standardized test reading scores soared. Not only did students learn about protecting their natural heritage, they came away from the experience empowered about knowing how to affect positive change in their community at the grassroots level.