Several years ago, Earth Day celebrations and programs were headed up by several volunteers from a local industry. But when this group ceased their support for the programs, Extension leadership and others in the community expressed their concerns. So in response to these concerns, Gallatin County Extension looked for ways to spark new interest in Earth Day.

Extension, working in conjunction with NRCS, the Gallatin County Conservation District, the Kentucky Division of Forestry, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, the Gallatin County Middle School, NUCOR, and others developed and implemented an Earth Day Field Day for all Gallatin County fourth graders.

During this half-day long field day, which took place at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, the students rotated through seven unique environment related stations. The students learned about the importance of pollinators, the dangers of excessive erosion, the properties of our soils, why recycling is important, and others. At the pollinator station, each student also helped to plant a pollinator garden and took a pollinator plant home with them! Lunch for everyone that day was provided by a local steel plant which is the state's largest recycler. 

In all, approximately 100 fourth graders took part in the Earth Day Field Day. At the agent-led pollinator station, a show-of-hands survey revealed that at least 95 percent of the students learned what pollination is, why it's so important, and why we need to plant native pollinator plants.