Sayre Students Earn $5,000 Grant for Pollinator Gardens

Audrey Bebensee is showing her fifth grade students at Sayre School how they can take part in environmental change in two powerful ways.

First, since October, students have collected hundreds of pounds of bottle caps and lids. These will be repurposed into three environmental-friendly benches, which can seat 18 students and will sit in front of Sayre Middle School.

“We take the bottle caps to Indiana this summer,” Bebensee said, “and the kids have already started planning projects for next year.”

Second, the class has also secured a $5,000 grant to plant native pollinator gardens around public areas of Lexington.

The effort began when her students Google-searched “environmental grants” and discovered the Rumphius Foundation. This non-profit was created after founder, Michael Schuller, was inspired by Barbara Cooney’s children’s book, “Miss Rumphius.”

Bebensee, who wrote the grant, ordered thousands of plants and hundreds of thousands of seeds after the foundation approved the students’ grant.

“It’s amazing to see the students take charge,” said Bebensee, who has been a teacher for seven years. This is her first year at Sayre where she teaches math and science. Her father, George, is a ninth grade teacher at Sayre, and her son, Nolan, is a preschooler there.

“The class learned that bees and butterflies are losing their habitat,” Bebensee said. “The students wanted to help, but they didn’t know how to make a lasting impression. They’ve found that community help and support makes all the difference.”

Her fifth-graders have reached out to parks, schools, golf courses and other community areas. The first pollinator garden was planted in front of Sayre School, and the goal is to plant at least 15 around Lexington.

So far, the students will augment the pollinator gardens at Lakeside Golf Course, and the Living Arts and Science Center has started planting.

Bebensee read “Miss Rumphius” to her class of budding Johnny Appleseeds.

The book, the foundation, Bebensee and her fifth-graders are on the same page, so to speak – all aim to remind future generations of an important and timely lesson – Leave the world a more beautiful place than you found it.