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When you drive or walk past the middle school campus in North Branch next summer and notice a colorful myriad of sprouting plants,  enjoy the moment and appreciate what caused this beneficial oasis to appear.

North Branch Superintendent Sara Paul acknowledged three partnerships for providing the access to funds to support the district’s overall ag programming. Grants from Perkins consortium. SHIP, and Youth Skills Training help pay for equipment, supplies, field trips, and even work experience in the ag sector.

Almelund area farmer Amanda Cook, who  is also an instructor at North Branch Area Middle School,  has blended her passion for agriculture into a new pollinator planting program at the school.  

Experts assisting middle school students in developing pollinator friendly vegetation at two open sites,  were in North Branch last week to take advantage of a window in the seasonal transition.  Weather finally was ideal for MN Native Landscapes (MNL) to tackle 5,000 square feet of seed sowing,  near the middle school, on Grand Avenue and County Road 14.

The project was unable to be completed over the summer due to the drought, according to local environmental activist Tom Anderson.  Anderson has been a strong presence behind the city using sites at the library and open space near the Highway 95 round-a-bout, to establish monarch butterfly habitat.  He tells the Press the fall rains improved conditions and all that was needed was a seed sowing window where soils could go into a cool down mode.  It can’t be too warm nor too cold for establishing a successful spring germination.  

In North Branch the agriculture courses included the middle school students  studying the plants being cultivated as pollinator friendly. They learned about the key role of pollinators.  Cook got a list of species in the seed mix and students helped to create QR coding for plaques,  posted nearby the fields, for when the public passes by the code it can be scanned by smartphone for information about the plantings.

Meanwhile at the North Branch high school level there are advanced Agricultural Program lessons on fish and wildlife, floral design, food science, horticulture and landscaping.

Supt. Paul stated that working in partnership is “...ag-mazing...many thanks to the team that worked hard. to launch these opportunities for our students, Middle School Principal Kelly Detzler, career Navigator Kristin Mayne, Director of Teaching and Learning David Treichel, high school Asst Principal Andrea Thiner and Principal Clint Link...we will keep thinking big and working in partnership.”

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