Nestled along Springfield’s West Lake Shore Drive, shaded by large trees, hosting a new orchard and buzzing with the daily activities of honeybees is Lincoln Land Community College’s newest outdoor learning lab — West Lake Nature Grove. Dedicated in June 2023, West Lake Nature Grove is a 2.1-acre plot of land the college uses for educating its students, engaging its communities and collaborating with local industry.
When arriving at the Grove, the most noticeable feature is its apiary, composed of 24 brightly painted beehives, a product of the college’s Adopt-A-Hive program. Visitors may be quick to assume the purpose of the apiary is to produce honey, but the more than 200 pounds of honey produced during the 2023 annual honey harvest was only a sweet and delicious by-product. The real purpose of the college’s apiary — and the Grove in general — is to serve as an outdoor lab for teaching in many disciplines.
It is possible for students to enroll and even excel in courses without making connections between those courses. But learning should not be fragmented. Today’s students will not solve tomorrow’s biggest challenges in isolation. They will work collaboratively, across areas of study.
Imagine with me a scenario in which students — rather than traveling between a biology lab to an English classroom to a business lesson, as if each subject is unrelated — learn about the life cycles of pollinators by writing about their importance to local economic activity in a grant to start a small production apiary. That’s what West Lake Nature Grove encourages — collaborative learning that enables students to draw from multiple subjects in the problem-solving process. While a traditional biology lab, for example, may serve only biology students, LLCC’s outdoor learning lab at West Lake Nature Grove serves students from across college programs.
Teaching strategies that cross areas of study are not new to higher education, but they are becoming popular again. Combining content and concepts from multiple subjects helps students make connections between their learning and new knowledge. It also builds skills, increases critical and higher order thinking, and promotes discussion between students. At LLCC, we incorporate the Grove’s amenities into various traditional classes, which also increases collaboration between faculty from different disciplines.
In its short existence, the Grove has already enhanced education and community outreach at LLCC. For the first time ever, LLCC students were involved in sequencing the genomic DNA of honeybees, a collaboration between a class of biology majors, the college’s Environmental Club and multiple faculty and staff. Honors students from various disciplines participated in a project comparing the effectiveness of sugar roll versus alcohol wash to detect varroa mites, a predator of honeybees. Other students compared the effectiveness of varroa sensitivity genetics. These projects build networking skills for students as they collaborate with local partners such as Steamship Bee Company, Prairie State Beekeepers and Lincoln Land Beekeepers. Many of these projects are ongoing and will lead to the results being presented at regional conferences.
Bill Harmon, LLCC agriculture professor and program coordinator, uses the Grove in agriculture and horticulture classes by demonstrating the importance of bees to the pollination and production of crops. LLCC’s Workforce Institute students used honey produced in the apiary in the hospitality management and culinary arts program, while construction and welding students helped build some of the infrastructure at the outdoor lab.
LLCC obtained the land in a generous donation from Dean “Robbie” Robert Jr., president of Robert’s Seafood in Springfield, and his wife, Pam, in memory of their friend, Lloyd Inslee Jr. Inslee, a lover of nature and wildlife, lived on the property for more than 50 years. Robert specified that the land be used to educate students, carrying forward Lloyd’s legacy and love of nature. The Kreher Farm Perpetual Charitable Trust within the LLCC Foundation pays for many enhancements to the land.
The vision for this outdoor learning lab mostly comes from Dave Cox, LLCC professor of biology, who serves as coordinator of the site. Cox’s first act was establishing the apiary in collaboration with Prairie State Beekeepers, Lincoln Land Beekeepers Association and Steamship Bees.
Beyond academic programs, Cox focuses on engaging LLCC’s communities. He has given tours of the Grove and its amenities to nearly 150 people. He established an Adopt-A-Hive program that, to date, has garnered support from 14 local organizations including pre-schools, K-12 institutions, FFA chapters and student clubs, Girl Scout Troops and civic organizations. He developed a mentoring program with The Outlet, a youth program in Springfield for young males ages 8-22, that provided an opportunity for two Outlet students to participate in the Prairie State Beekeepers’ 2024 beekeeping course. The Outlet maintains a hive at the Grove. In the future, Cox plans to establish a bat rookery and succession plots, and to improve signage by working with LLCC art faculty. Notably, Cox is collaborating with Prairie State Beekeepers to establish a Hives for Heroes program that will invite military veterans to the Grove to learn beekeeping as a hobby.
As educators continue to help students make connections between their studies and real-world scenarios, we will see more spaces like West Lake Nature Grove. For now, I take pride in this unique and expanding learning space at LLCC and invite you to sign up for a class this fall. The semester starts Aug. 17. To learn more, visit llcc.edu/fall-classes. You can also Adopt-A-Hive, take a tour or join us in September for our annual honey harvest. Whatever the activity, we welcome you to campus and to take part in learning opportunities at West Lake Nature Grove.