2008 (Spring)

To gain an understanding of prairie reconstruction tasks, the students enrolled in plant science began collaborating with Polk County Conservation. The first field trip required that the students identify and remove invasive willow trees and plant seed that Polk County Conservation had harvested the previous fall.

The plant science students marked off the boundary of the first phase, and seeded about a quarter of an acre. This seeding was followed shortly after by torrential rains that ended up flooding much of the state.

2008 (Winter)

Luann Link, science teacher at Stillwell Junior High gets on board.

In January 2008 and April 2008 I took a 2-part course, Iowa's Roadside Prairies, from Northern Iowa University’s eii (Environmental Issues Instruction) series. The issue brought to us was: Should native vegetation be restored to Iowa roadsides? We were instructed to help students understand about prairie loss by learning about the ecology of prairies, investigating and understanding the issues surrounding prairie loss, and then exploring actions to resolve the issues. Dr. Carl Bollwinkel is the eii director along with Barb Bonnett and Rosalie Cochran, who serve as Associate Directors of the eii staff.

7th graders went through approximately 3 weeks of instruction, covering prairie loss and issues. Science, math, and other curricula were integrated, using the eii model. Students did simple soil analyses from the Valley High School reconstruction site and then determined which prairie plants they believed were native to the WDM area. At this point an appropriate site needed to be chosen to plant prairie seed. The site needed to be visible from the road (Stilwell's courtyard and various school plant plots were not adequate sites).

Brant Reif, Valley plant science teacher, decided to join forces with me to start a prairie at Valley High School, which had plenty of available land by the baseball fields. The plan was proposed to REAP-CEP (Resource Enhancement and Protection-Conservation Education Program Grant), LRTF (Living Roadway Trust Fund of Iowa), CEEE (The University of Northern Iowa Center for Energy & Environmental Education), Trees Forever, and Keep Iowa Beautiful. $700 of seed was awarded for the prairie reconstruction to take place.

I felt the money was best spent toward the Valley plant science classes' plans to reconstruct the prairie, in the very visible area of 35th Street and Ashworth Drive. The Stilwell students did not participate in the actual ground preparation or planting of the seeds at the proposed Valley prairie site. However, when the prairie plants are more established, I would like to bring some interested 7th graders to see this reconstructed prairie and possibly collect seed. We can then start a "very small" prairie section in a bare area of the school courtyard.

- LuAnn Link

2007 (Fall)

The West Des Moines Community School District, and later, the City of West Des Moines approve the project. Grant writing begins to acquire funding for seed cost.

2007 (Spring)

Valley High School principal approves idea of converting the retention basin to tallgrass prairie with some understandable trepidation that the site will become a weed field. (Site drawn in to the east of the baseball field.)

The History

The prairie reconstruction was not the initial idea. The project actually started off as a way for students to help beautify the campus. The original proposal was for students to plant ornamental perennials in beds around campus back in 2004-2005. However, Valley High School had an upcoming building renovation planned, so the idea was shelved until the construction was completed.

The request for planting space was again brought up in the spring of 2007 as the construction was nearing completion. By this time, a football field on the corner of Valley West Drive and Ashworth had been converted into a runoff basin for precipitation landing in the new parking area just to the north, and uphill. This basin would provide an ideal location for a prairie reconstruction project that could benefit many students. That is how the idea of beautifying the campus turned into a prairie reconstruction project.