Pottsville Middle School Students Successfully Petition City Hall to Lift Ban on Milkweed

A group of Pottsville Area middle school students successfully petitioned City Council members to have them lift the ban on growing milkweed.

Last week, City Council voted unanimously to amend a Pottsville ordinance that defined milkweed as a noxious weed and banned its presence in the city. Now, Pottsville will use Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture designations of harmful plants as its standard, allowing the growth of milkweed.

Middle School Students Lead the Charge

The measure was first brought to the attention of elected officials in December by a group of students from DHH Lengel Middle School. Led by their teacher, Leah Zerbe, the class explained through the use of an animation made with Wonder Media’s StoryMaker program why milkweed is essential and should not be banned from growing in Pottsville.

“Milkweed, despite its name, is not a problematic plant. The three native milkweed species in Pennsylvania serve as important nectar sources for pollinators. Milkweed is also the only host plant for the caterpillars of monarch butterflies,” Zerbe explains as her motivation for seeing the ban overturned. “So if no one’s planting milkweed in gardens, monarch butterfly numbers will continue to plummet. This is important because beneficial insect numbers – as a whole – are declining. This trend negatively impacts birds, fish, water quality, food security – and ultimately us.”

Collaboration Sparks Change

Zerbe says she was first approached by Penn State Master Gardener Russell Lang, who discovered that Pottsville had milkweed and goldenrod on its list of noxious weeds.

Lang was aware that Zerbe writes often about ecology and suggested they work together to get Pottsville officials to amend their ordinance against banning those plants.

Zerbe – along with her students – decided to take their fight to City Hall. She says that her students have been studying and creating native plant pollinators on school grounds for years and that the students have been well-versed in the benefits of milkweed.

“When I told them that Pottsville had an old 1966 ordinance actually banning the planting of milkweed, they immediately sprang to action,” Zerbe says. “It was one big resounding, ‘We have to change that!'”

Students Gain Real-World Skills

Zerbe gives all credit to her students for building the case to take to City Hall. She says they found science-backed research to support their claims and created a compelling message utilzing that animation program. Students not only created the animation, they also wrote the script, provided voice-overs, and directed its production.

Here’s a look at the animation video students created and showed to City Council members:

At the December City Council meeting, the students presented this video to officials, who said they’d take the matter under advisement.

“Because of this project, we now have more students with directing, script writing, and voice acting experience as a side benefit,” Zerbe says. “They wanted to be an active part of this process.”

Civic Engagement in Action

Ultimately taking their case to Pottsville City Hall also provided students an invaluable lesson civics. They got to see government in action, even if it was a slow, methodical action. Case in point, the students had to wait three months to see their request approved.

City Council took no official action on the proposal in December and January. A first reading of the amended ordinance took place in February with a final reading at last week’s meeting.

“I remind my students on a daily basis that they have a voice – and when they work together and unite their voices for good, they can bring about change that makes the world better for everyone. Taking the mini field trips to City Council meetings provided students with real-life lessons about local politics and how change occurs on the local level,” Zerbe says. “Middle school students are naturally curious, so after the first meeting they had lots of questions about how public comment works, what council members were voting on so quickly, and how people get to become council members in the first place.

“I was also careful to explain that policy change often takes time – and that the council would not likely approve their request the night of their initial presentation. In this era of instant gratification, the project showed the importance of persistence and patience,” Zerbe adds.

Pottsville Area Superintendent Sarah Yoder praised the students for their work on this project and getting real-world results. 

“These students serve as role models for all students and adults because of how they demonstrated enthusiasm, patience, and trust in the civic process,” Yoder says. “When students are engaged with educators in designing their own learning, the powerful experiences develop their sense of self and purpose.”

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