Service Learning OpportunitiesAt — Native Monarchs

At Sterling Hills Golf Course, we care about our golf course and the golfers, but we also care about the wildlife that lives there. Student projects are available to conduct monitoring and experiments, and collect vital data about the wildlife that call a golf course their home. Monarch and Pollinator habitats are present, along with habitats for Hawks, Owls, Waterfowl, Reptiles, Fish, and other mammals.

At CSUCI, there are several opportunities for students to get involved:

• Maintenance for the existing tropical milkweed.  This is a big job to get it pruned and under control in the Fall, and also train the people how to prune correctly and to look for Monarch eggs and caterpillars.
  • This could be a very easy and effective student project.  Monitoring the amount of Monarch activity at the same time identifying the stems of plants that are clear to be cut back and cutting them at the same time.
• Proper maintenance for existing nectar sources, especially during the winter for Monarchs and Bees (i.e. not pruning when the most nectar is available).
• Addition of selective natives and ornamentals that require less maintenance and irrigation, but provides beneficial qualities to the habitat gardens, especially during Monarch Migration.
  • Also the addition of other host plants for California butterflies (Passion vine=Gulf Fritillary, Pipevine Swallowtail, Fennel/Dill=Swallowtail, Grasses=Skippers. etc.)
• Creating a specific Monarch & Pollinator area in the Modoc Garden.  Adding beneficial natives, ornamentals, and succulents that the students could have projects centered around.  Teaching Propagation methods for succulents and native plants give you the opportunity to grow your own plants for the garden, in the Greenhouse after it had been repaired.
• Repair the Greenhouse and replace the cover.  Start plant propagation experiments.
• Bring in larger succulents (cuttings from other areas or donations from my yards), to plant around the perimeter of the garden to create a “living fence” with Agave, Aloe, and Euphorbia. Conduct student experiments on which plants may naturally deter wildlife from entering the garden area.
• Planting native milkweed in a crop setting and/or simulating Hedgerows to help students learn better methods of sustainable and organic agriculture.
  • See if we can utilize the fluff from the seed pods for making textiles or paper, and harvest the seed for cold-pressing beneficial cosmetics oils.
  • Build hedgerows and bioswales for student monitoring and projects.
• Promote an Agricultural Science curriculum:  Agribusiness, Agroecology, Bio-Innovation for Food Production, Regenerative Agriculture
• Create a hands-on operational garden for local school field trips, to encourage enrollment to CSUCI.
• Reach out to local farmers and agriculture-related businesses, for support and donations of materials.
• Organize volunteer efforts from the Community in the Monarch and Vegetable Gardens, give away free milkweed plugs, offer demonstrations on planting and maintenance, etc.
• Capture photos and videos to document the “Before” and “During” stages of a project, in order to write a really good story about it and show “After” photos and videos to students on Social Media.