On a spring day at the Helen Nisbet Roberts Nature Preserve in Harrisville, Mich., laughter carried across the hills as a group of middle school students paused their work to race down the grass, rolling and cheering. For many of them, it was a rare and needed moment of carefree joy.

Just hours earlier, these same students had been hard at work planting native wildflowers, clearing invasive species, and helping restore a vital pollinator habitat. Supported by a grant from the Community Foundation’s Mr. & Mrs. O.B. Eustis Fund, the Conservation District’s “Native Wildflowers for Pollinators Project” is growing into a long-term, community-rooted effort.

Each year, a new class of 8th graders takes part in transforming the land, gradually restoring nine acres into a thriving habitat filled with lupine, wild bergamot, and monarda - plants essential to the survival of the endangered Karner blue butterfly and vital to many other pollinators.

The work is intentional and intergenerational. This year’s students benefit from land prepared by those before them, and in turn, they prepare the ground for future classes. It’s a living legacy - one that will continue for years to come.

For Liz McNichols, who helps lead the effort, the land holds a deep, personal meaning. It once belonged to her mother, who purchased it in her 80s with a bold vision: to create a nature preserve. She walked the trails every day, even into her 90s, placing benches along the way so she could pause and take in the beauty around her. Before she passed, that dream wasn’t fully realized, but Liz had made a promise to carry it forward. Today, that promise is not only being kept, but is being shared with an entire generation of students.

And those students are making it their own.

Working in pairs and small groups, they’re designing projects that reflect their creativity and curiosity by building birdhouses and bee habitats, mapping the preserve, and even planning scavenger hunts. With guidance from their English teacher, they’ll soon contribute written pieces for interactive signage, allowing visitors to learn about the land directly from the students who helped restore it.

For many of the kids, this day represents something more than a field trip. Their teacher shared that many are navigating difficult circumstances at home following recent flooding and storm damage - some displaced, some caring for younger siblings, many carrying stress beyond their years. In school, they are often separated by learning differences or individual educational plans. Here, in the preserve, none of that defines them.

“This is a day where they can just be kids,” their teacher, Miss Thompson explained. “A day where everyone feels equal.”

And it showed. CFNEM Program Office Rachel Elkie and CFNEM Board President Tracy D’Augustino both participated in the day as well. They shared that the students laughter, teamwork, and pride in what they’re accomplishing together was truly meaningful to everyone there.

We are honored to be able to support this project that is not only restoring a landscape but is nurturing a generation.