By Jonathan Ismail, LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program Outreach Specialist, Stevens Point jismail@uwsp.edu or 715-346-3229

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ismail, LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program Outreach Specialist

Numerous research studies support the idea that green spaces and vibrant tree canopy at school campuses are important for students’ academic and socioemotional growth. But that can be easily overlooked during construction, design build and as our school grounds in our communities age over time. Municipal foresters and tree boards can be part of driving positive change.

Three critical preconditions for learning – ability to concentrate, intrinsic motivation and manageable levels of stress – have been linked to green schoolyards in recent research[1]. At the LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program, a partnership between the DNR Division of Forestry and University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, our resources can help you get students outdoors and connected with nature. For example, our Forest Mapping activity provides learners with hands-on outdoor mapping investigations of their school campus.

Continue reading “LEAF Resources For Connecting Kids With Nature” →

By Randy Reeg, former City Administrator, Mauston

The city of Mauston (Juneau County, Wisconsin) is a small rural city of just under 4,500 people, situated along the I-90/94 corridor in central Wisconsin. Despite having a highly successful local manufacturing economy, a regional medical center and being situated in heavily trafficked regional tourist destination area, Mauston and Juneau County both have lower than average incomes and high levels of poverty. The region is one of Wisconsin’s rural food deserts, and the local food pantry, the Community Sharing Pantry, plays a crucial role in fighting local hunger.

The city of Mauston has seven public parks, and like in most other communities, the amenities, popularity and usage of each park differs greatly. Marachowsky’s Park is an approximately 2-acre mini park located on the city’s west side. It had historically contained a youth baseball field, a picnic shelter, playground equipment and public restrooms. Following the summer of 2019, Mauston’s Summer Recreation Director at the time advocated for the relocation of the youth baseball field to a different park for logistical purposes, including the muddy and mosquito-ridden conditions. The Parks & Recreation Board and City Council both agreed, and by summer of 2020, youth baseball was no longer an activity at Marachowsky’s Park.

Continue reading “From Decaying Park To A Vision For Tomorrow: The Story Of Mauston’s Living Food Pantry” →