Orland Junior High Creates Illinois Native Habitat for Julie Doody

With the start of classes this year, Orland Junior High students and visitors will be greeted with a newly planted butterfly garden at the school’s front entrance in honor of former OJH student, Julie Doody.  Students, staff and community members helped raise funds and create the planters to honor Julie and create a native Illinois plant garden.  Julie was a student and athlete at Orland Junior High who suddenly passed away in July, 2002, just after her 8th grade year.

The planter project was initially created by the staff of Orland Junior High as a memory to Julie, but became a “teachable moment” as teachers used it for lessons about budgets, native plants and scale models.  The Orland Junior High students and staff sponsored many fundraisers to raise money to pay for the planters.  The project was also supported by donations from community members for student raffles and a grant awarded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through the Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant Program.  Sponsors of this grant included the Jadel Youth Fund, the Daniel f. and Ada L. Rice Foundation, the Illinois Conservation Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The planters were completed with the help of Borden’s Landscaping and Touch of Green. 

The plants chosen are all native to Illinois and will attract butterflies and hummingbirds to enhance the beauty of the school.  The planters are not only a small representation of a natural Illinois habitat, but serve as a reminder that life is short and you need to live each day to its fullest.  Julie would have wanted that!