(RACINE) — Students visited the Lake Michigan shoreline recently to learn about native plants, invasive species and other elements of coastal health, the Journal Times reports.

The goal: teach the next generation how to protect the fragile coast of Lake Michigan.

The program was the creation of Wisconsin Sea Grant Senior Special Librarian and Education Coordinator Ann Moser and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others.

“These students are asking all these amazing questions about their place and just watching their imagination get sparked — it’s been a long time (since) I have been able to work with students, so being with students in this age group, it’s just fun,” Moser told the newspaper.

Read more about the program at the newspaper’s website.

(WESTON) — Students at D.C. Everest High School have built 15 Habitat for Humanity homes, WSAW-TV reports.

“They start out thinking they are going to build a house, and within the first couple of weeks, they realize they’re building a home,” Career and Technical Education Coordinator Aaron Hoffman told the TV station.

Construction student Eddie Zynda said, “We’re just killing two birds with one stone, and you’re learnin’, everyone’s learnin’ here, and then giving a family a house, I mean you can’t go wrong with that.”

Read the full story and watch the video at the TV station’s website.

(ASHLAND) — For six years, a lovable Saint Bernard has roamed the hallways of Lake Superior Elementary School, helping to calm anxious nerves as a shaggy counselor, the Ashland Daily Press reports.

Belle has made “a lot of friends” at the school, part of the Superior School District, special education teacher Mike Weaver told the newspaper.

Belle belongs to Jenny Richardson, a Lake Superior Elementary employee.

“She came to school one day, and she hasn’t left,” Weaver said.

“Sometimes students are struggling with behaviors and they just need someone who is not an adult to help them process. So Belle will come out and instantly, they just kind of melt and their demeanor changes. They get set and regulated and they are able to go back into class,” Weaver told the newspaper.

Read the full story to learn more about Belle. Find the story in the Ashland Daily Press here (paywall).

(MADISON) — Madison East High School students cooked up a historic gumbo dish and shared it with district leaders recently, WMTV reports.

The class has been learning about the civil rights leader behind the dish, Leah Chase, and her restaurant, Dooky Chase.

Emily Sonnemann, the culinary teacher at East, told the TV station Chase “built a legacy at that restaurant of building bridges and having positive conversations for change over a bowl of gumbo.”

Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Dr. Carlton Jenkins said sharing a meal was a good way to start difficult conversations.

“Let’s put on a table some of the recent issues that we’ve been talking about,” said Jenkins. “But then also talk about how we can make it better as a community and co-create a space where everyone knows that teaching and learning is at our forefront along with safety.”

Read more about the event and watch the video at the TV station’s website.