By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Brandywine Elementary has been adopted.
When Jim Lemanski of Niles read an article in the Niles Daily Star about the beautification program that is ongoing at Brandywine Elementary School in Niles, he was interested in helping.
Lemanski will be adopting the school into the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program with the International Audubon Society.
Lemanski added that he thinks this is a great opportunity for the students to learn about the environment and to care for it.
The Cooperative Sanctuary Program is an environmental education program, which is geared towards teaching the students about protecting and sustaining the land, wildlife, water and natural resources in the world around them.
Lemanski is involved in a program like this through the Knollwood Golf Course where he is the superintendent. He is also a member of Audubon himself.
When a school joins the program they are able to choose from a variety of different projects that can be implemented at their school.
Some of the programs that have been done include planting a butterfly garden, setting up bird feeding stations, developing an outdoor classroom, and planting native trees and shrubs to attract wildlife.
They are tailored to the unique setting, needs and budget of the particular school.
Fourth grade teacher Jim Ackles who is heading up the beautification at the school said, "This is a great opportunity. We want to turn this into an educational center and this gets us one step closer."
Ackles added that this will help the students to respect nature, because they really are the stewards of the future and they need to know how to preserve what we have.
The students at Brandywine Elementary are very excited to be involved in this project.
Fourth grader Tiffany Milligan said, "I think that this project is encouraging other students to get involved in things like this."
Chance Ravish said, "It's really cool that kids our age can be involved in something like this, and that we are getting to see how the whole process is done."