Noblesville middle schoolers helping save the monarchs

Science teacher Rick Towle, NEMS students and Endangered Species Coalition volunteer Jeff Waggoner planted milkweed in an effort to increase the monarch butterfly population at Mallery Woods. (Photos provided)

Connor Meinerding plants milkweed Saturday at Mallery Woods.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, Noblesville East Middle School science teacher Rick Towle and his students teamed with Endangered Species Coalition volunteer Jeff Waggoner to plant milkweed at Noblesville Schools’ outdoor education center Chinquapin Ridge at Mallery Woods.

The milkweed planting will help save local monarch butterflies populations and was a great real-world conservation learning opportunity for students. The monarch butterfly population has decreased by 90 percent in the past 20 years and milkweeds, which also are in decline over recent decades, are essential for monarch survival.