Illinois Schools: Bring Pollinator Education to Your Campus

Illinois corn farmers know that healthy ecosystems support healthy farms and that includes pollinators. Through our farmer-led pollinator initiative, we’re donating milkweed seed blends to schools across Illinois to help create small pollinator habitats right on school grounds.

What We’re Donating

Each participating school will receive:

• A regionally appropriate milkweed seed blend
• Basic planting guidance
• Educational resources to connect the habitat to classroom learning

Milkweed is essential for monarch butterflies and supports a wide range of pollinators that are critical to Illinois agriculture.

Why Your School Should Participate

• Creating a small pollinator plot:
• Provides hands-on STEM learning
• Demonstrates environmental stewardship
• Connects students to local agriculture
• Offers real-world lessons in biology, ecology, conservation, and food systems

Even a small garden space can become a living classroom.

Classroom Tie-Ins

Schools can easily connect the habitat to lessons in:

• Life cycles & biology (monarch butterfly migration)
• Environmental science (ecosystems, biodiversity, soil health)
• Agriculture education (the role of pollinators in food production)
• Data collection & math (tracking plant growth or butterfly sightings)
• Art & writing projects inspired by nature

This is a simple, meaningful way to show students how farmers and communities can work together to support conservation.

If your school is interested in participating contact us to help you bring pollinator education to life.