PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE MILKWEED!
This may sound like a silly request, but last year at this time, no one, including Jim Sullivan, the Science Department Chair for LFHS, would have dreamed that over 800 students from the high school and Districts 65 and 67 would be studying milkweed in its natural state as part of the Elawa Buddies field trips. Elawa Buddies is a field-based science program where high school and elementary school students explore a natural habitat together.

Last year, the LFHS Foundation, in conjunction with Districts 65 and 67, provided a grant to expand the Elawa Farms Environmental Campus. From the high school’s perspective, the project would provide additional hands-on learning for the 80 or so students in the Environmental Science AP classes. The high school believed, at the time, that the campus would also provide great opportunities for their biology and geosciences students. Thanks to the over-the-top efforts of staff from Districts 115, 67 and 65, Wildlife Discovery Center, and Elawa Farms, what happened over the summer is best described as the ultimate shared services, cross-curricular project on record. The project has far exceeded everyone’s expectations!

Elawa Farms resides on one of the finest black soil tall grass savannas in North America, with the distinction of being one of the top 10 wildlife conservation facilities in the United States. Elawa Farms now plays an integral role in the academic experience of LFHS students and, with the Elawa Buddies program, many young students from Districts 67 and 65.

By any measure, this grant has been a success. With money provided by the Foundation, students have used a variety of field tools - magnifiers, bug viewers, microscopes, soil analysis kits, and more. - to identify the world that exists in the savanna. They have compared the accuracy of Native American measurement techniques with those of modern scientists. They are applying the scientific approach they have learned in the classroom in a field-based laboratory.

These experiences have only just begun. Those overseeing the science curriculum in Districts 65 and 67 are now considering expanding their use of the campus. The multi-district team is also reaching out to the other schools in our area: St. Mary’s, Lake Forest Country Day, and North Chicago.

Thanks to innovative educators and the generous donors to the LFHS Foundation, Elawa Farms’ new environmental campus is offering a great collaborative learning experience. This collaboration models the LFHS Foundation’s objective of taking the ideas of the high school’s faculty and making them part of our students’ and communities’ experiences. “The Elawa campus has grown well beyond our expectations,” said Jim Sullivan. “We now have a need for volunteers to help us manage the logistics of these field trips with so many students participating in the program.”