LEONARDTOWN, Md. – In 2022, students in the Natural Resources Management (NRM) class at James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center (FCTC) were introduced to native plants (June) and native seed collection (October) at Butterfly Alley, a local native plant stand and demonstration garden in Hollywood. Those initial meetings between Marlene Smith, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay (WOCB) President, and Dorothy Birch, instructor of the NRM class, has led to a partnership between Forrest Tech and Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay that grows stronger every year.
From fall seed collecting and cleaning to winter sowing and spring plantings, each year brings new programs and opportunities to Forrest Tech students. This year we grew our partnership with the school through our native plant sign project. Students in four programs collaborated with us to create and fabricate one-of-a-kind native plant signs that will soon make their debut in the local public gardens we support. Special thanks to the FCTC students and teachers who brought this project to life:
- Natural Resources Management – Dorothy Birch
- Graphic Communications – Casey Page
- Welding – Kinnon Williams
- Auto Repair and Refinishing – Michael Stevens
We also grew our partnership between the NRM class and the community by inviting them to join us in planting a native pollinator garden at The Good Earth Natural Food Company in April and celebrating Leonardtown First Friday in May.
Katherine (Katie) Cory, a senior in the Natural Resources Management class this past school year, describes her experience:
“Throughout the 2025 – 2026 school year, Wild Ones, Chesapeake Bay Chapter, partnered with the Natural Resource Management (NRM) class at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center. Wild Ones mission is to “promote native landscapes, through education, advocacy and collaborative action”. During the school year, students experienced their mission firsthand, learning how native plants support local ecosystems and discovering that creating habitats for pollinators can begin with something as simple as a seed.
“Utilizing the native seeds they harvested and later cleaned in class, students prepared milk jug greenhouses sowing them through the winter months. New plants fostered for the next generation of NRM students will be used for a future project to transform the unused Technology Center’s central courtyard into a thriving native garden.
“Extending their collaboration beyond the classroom, Wild Ones invited NRM students to advocate alongside them distributing seed packets during a First Friday event in Leonardtown Square. Students also created Butterfly Trail themed educational activities for children to play, including butterfly bingo, pin the parts on the butterfly, and an origami butterfly scavenger hunt.
“The event was a tremendous success, offering a wonderful opportunity to engage young community members while making learning about pollinators both fun and memorable. Children eagerly participated to earn candies and stickers for their efforts, while students gained valuable experience as environmental educators and advocates.
“Thanks to this partnership NRM students developed the confidence, knowledge, and leadership skills needed to become future stewards of our natural resources. Together they showed that restoring native habitats begins not only with planting seeds in the ground, but also with planting them in the next generation.” ~ Katherine Cory
Katie recently graduated from Leonardtown High School and will be continuing her studies in Natural Resources and Wildlife Technology at Garrett College this fall. We wish you much success, Katie!
June 22-28,2026 is National Pollinator Week! We are celebrating throughout southern Maryland with local proclamations and invite you to join us in celebrating this observance by planting pollinator-friendly native plants that include trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers; providing nesting sites that support all pollinator life stages; avoiding pesticide use; learning more about the many environmental and community benefits pollinators provide; and spreading the word on the importance of pollinators.
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, a local chapter of Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, Ltd., is a nonprofit, environmental education and advocacy organization serving Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s and southern Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties. We promote native landscapes through education, advocacy and collaborative action to help individuals and communities make environmentally beneficial choices for their local ecosystems. Our vision: Native plants and natural landscapes thriving in every community.
If you’d like to receive updates on our chapter news and activities, please sign up to subscribe to our email list here. If you’d like to join our chapter, visit this link.