Magnolia Rotary works to save pollinators and grow community garden at high school

To help pollinating insects, the Magnolia Rotary Club has partnered with several organizations including Magnolia ISD to bring a pollinator garden to Magnolia High School.

Pollinators such as Western honey bees have been on the decline since 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Pollinator gardens are used to help these pollinators and others by providing an abundance of food and creating a habitat. 

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These gardens have become more popular, especially in areas that are prone to hot summers and drought, according the Texas Butterfly Ranch. 

Former Magnolia Rotary Club president Hope Moye noticed this trend and suggested the club pursue a similar project before she stepped down from her role, said Hugh Fullerton, the club’s public image chairman.

The trend is something the club thought they could piggyback and do locally, he said.

“First of all, it’ll give high school students from both (high) schools a chance to study firsthand how pollinating insects work and how they’re placed within the environment,” Fullerton said, noting Magnolia High and Magnolia West High would be able to use the garden. “And also we hope that it can be used as a vehicle to educate the public and get more people interested in planting plants that support pollinating insects.”

The garden will be used by environmental science and biology classes in the two high schools in the district. 

Every year, the rotary club chooses major local project, Fullerton said. After settling on the pollinator garden as this year’s project, the local club along with the Rotary International Foundation invested nearly $6,000 into the garden.

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The garden, which sits behind the Magnolia High School building, has native plants to the area as well as two bee houses for native bees to raise their young, according to a release from the local club. 

About 20 students from both high schools volunteered in helping build the garden, Fullerton said. The Texas Native Plant Society and the Lake Creek Greenway Partnership also assisted with building the garden.

The Texas Native Plant Society donated some of the plants in the garden, a release from the rotary club states.

Students will continue to care for the garden, said Amelia Lindley, the district’s community relations coordinator. 

“We’re just happy to have organizations like that (to) allow us to create this opportunity where students can have some hands on learning and experience a different type of learning outside the classroom,” Lindley said. 

This is one example of people in the community trying to help pollinating insects. 

Earlier this year, Porter High students entered a STEM competition, creating a device that would help beekeepers monitor hives after reading about a huge decline in bee colonies in Texas due historical freezing temperatures. 

The six students were named the national winners for the 13th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.