In every student’s hectic commute, jogging from Net Games all the way upstairs to their AP Lang class, their class schedules are bound to guide them past the Environmental Science display case perched next to Mrs. Sadogierski’s room, sharing a three dimensional scene of flora and fauna.  The landscape popping off the page is a wonder for the eyes, but does it gauge any worth besides its aesthetic? By the end of her time here as a high school student, Regina Lobner, a junior at Appleton North, strives to change that.

“I’m gonna be adding informative signs to the Environmental Science display case. What I’ve always noticed about [the display case] is none of the plants or animals have an explanation. The official name of my project is Renovating and Educating.”

Regina spaces out time a few instances a month during her privilege hour to work on this renovation project with the advisory of Mrs. Sadogierski. The first objective of renovation was eliminating the dust that clings to every inch of glass, leaf, and feather (from Mt. Pheasant), and the second objective of education is printing signs to stick on those flowers and animals.  What type of educational aspects will be added?

“I’m also going to be explaining the ecosystem, like how this is a prairie and then maps of how little prairie is left in Wisconsin due to farming and how this is an example of oak savanna, another type of prairie.  Those signs are going to be lots of different things — I’ve only got the facts about the different animals done so far, but it’ll be a broad spectrum in the end.”

A little taste was given through the decay, while Regina shook down rotten leaves from the net tacked to the ceiling.

“Lichen is a cross between a fungus and a plant that grows on trees.  You know Devil’s place by Wisconsin Dells?  There’s a little tiny spot next to Devil’s Lake where nobody is allowed to preserve the lichen there. You can only find a couple of them in the world. Gotta protect those rare lichens, man,” says Regina. “My interest is mainly education. I’ve had the most of my exposure through volunteering at Buboltz.  I help teach summer classes there so I’ve gotten a lot of education experience from there and I really enjoy that. I’m hoping that college will expose me to a lot more, but right now, it’s definitely education.”

Regina’s purpose for this project not only follows her love of learning about and teaching environmental science, but her dedication to Girl Scouts.

“I’m doing this for something called my Girl Scout Gold Award which is the best thing you can do when you’re a girl scout, the top notch achievement of being a Girl Scout is getting your gold award. It’s not easy.  You have to have a very comprehensive project, and you have to get it approved by several Girl Scout Committee members, and you have to do two projects prior to this one. You have to do your Girl Scout Bronze and Girl Scout Silvers. For my Bronze, I planted a tree at the YMCA, and for Silver, I planted a rain garden with over seven hundred plants at the Girl Scout Service Center. Those two were done with my troop while Girl Scout Gold has to be done as a solo project. For the Girl Scout Gold award, you have to have an advisor who is not your troop leader who can mentor you and give you advice. That’s Mrs. Sadogierski for me. I’m doing this because this display sat as wasted space that deserves to have something cool in it. I wanted to add some educational signs and clean it up a bit and make it a useful part of the school.”