Teachers working to restore prairie plants across the area

Illinois is called the Prairie State for a reason, yet a quick glance around the suburbs belies the moniker.

Grass, sprinklers, concrete and impatiens rule the roost.

Six teams of teachers from throughout the area gathered in Oak Brook this week with a mission to restore a bit of the native green - and get their students involved in the process.

Working with a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, and the resources of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, they spent the week learning how to create prairies at their schools.

Perhaps more importantly, they also learned how to blend Illinois prairies into classroom studies - and the community. The fully developed curriculum is adaptable for kindergarten students to high school seniors.

"I went into this thinking about my class. I came out thinking about the big picture," said Barb Anderson, a third-grade teacher from Longfellow Elementary School in Wheaton.

That picture includes the need for an awareness of the surrounding world, said Peg Glasser, a social worker, also from Longfellow. Their team hopes the prairie idea spreads to other areas of downtown Wheaton, where their school is located, and to other buildings within Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200.

Earth Partnerships for Schools started in Madison, Wis., and gradually has expanded to other states. This year, with the help of the EPA grant, the forest preserve district teamed with The Field Museum, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Oakbrook Terrace Park District to introduce it to Illinois, said David Guritz, the forest preserve district's director of education.

While various styles of prairies have popped up at schools across the region, this project puts an entirely different spin on the process, he said.

Teachers were encouraged to apply in teams so they had sufficient support and a variety of experience. They also needed to have the blessing of the school principal because they will return with a bevy of plants in need of a new home, he said. A total of six teams participated in the project from Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will Counties.

And when they return to their own classrooms they'll continue to get ongoing support from each of the agencies involved.

"We're not going away," Guritz said.

Next year, when they recruit a whole new batch of teachers, Guritz said they'll add this year's crop to the lineup of resources.