News

Order photo prints

HoneyBelles land a top prize in national ecology challenge

High school girls will share money with other bee conservation groups

Published: April 21, 2016         

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Aprille Hanson

The Mount St. Mary Honeybelles work in their garden beds at the school which help sustain the bee population. In the foreground are Catherine Dobry (left), Lauren Joseph and Cate Willis.

Aprille Hanson

The Mount St. Mary Honeybelles work in their garden beds at the school which help sustain the bee population. In the foreground are Catherine Dobry (left), Lauren Joseph and Cate Willis.

Mount St. Mary Academy students in Little Rock have been learning and working to aid the bee population and it’s paid off — for the bees and the school.

The HoneyBelles, a team of seven science and art students along with art teacher Marianne Nolley and biology teacher Marcella Melandri, won first place in the Lexus Eco Challenge, earning $15,000 in the final challenge of this multi-layer competition. The challenge, created by Lexus and Scholastic, is a nationwide education competition where students must create an environmental program that has a positive impact on their community.

“We’re very proud and I think it’s even more motivation to keep doing it,” Nolley said. “They jumped up and down and screamed.”

The students designed a garden on school grounds, filled with native flowers and plants to encourage pollination. Students also created items to sell for fundraisers for the garden and researched the best ways to help the bees.

In November, the HoneyBelles and 16 other teams won $10,000 for grants and scholarships from the competition. In the final challenge of the competition, two teams had a chance for $30,000 in grand prizes and eight first place finalists would receive $15,000. Of the total $500,000 awarded to schools and students throughout the country, the HoneyBelles and MSM received $25,000 total from the competition.

Instead of keeping all the money at the school, Melandri said the girls wanted to reach out to help other bee conservation efforts. 

Students will donate a portion of the money to Bee Cause, a grant program that shows the importance of bees to youth, and Bees Abroad, an organization that uses beekeeping to reduce poverty in various countries. They will also expand the school’s garden and create a self-sustaining irrigation system.

The HoneyBelles were also recently chosen to paint a design on a sidewalk drain in downtown Little Rock, part of the Drain Smart competition. Their design includes bees with the tagline “Bee Smart” and will be at Center Street and Capitol Avenue.

“We have girls who are stronger artists, so we’re going to have the artist sketch and then everyone is going to help paint and it’s going to be fun,” Melandri said.

While contests come and go, teaching students about the need to protect the environment even in its smallest forms will help save the future world.

“Younger people are becoming more and more disconnected with the environment. But environmental issues are reaching a very critical level,” Melandri said. “People overall are aware but if the larger population doesn’t care or show up to vote, these changes are not going to happen.”

And change starts, Nolley said, with the younger generation coming up, quoting a sign in her mother’s garden: “Treat the earth well. It was not given to you, but loaned to you by your children.”

 “Having the students take hold of that education and use it in a way to educate people around them branches out education further and further,” Nolley said.

SEE MORE PHOTOS related to this story at Arkansas Catholic's Zenfolio page, and order prints if you like. You also can browse other photos taken by Arkansas Catholic photographers.

Click for the Care for Creation index 

Please read our Comments Policy before posting.