ABOVE: First grade students get ready to sprinkle a mixture of wildflower seeds and rice hulls Friday afternoon during a youth pollinator day put on by Martin County Pheasants Forever.

FAIRMONT– More than 200 first grade students from around the county took part in a youth pollinator day Friday afternoon in rural Fairmont. The annual event aims to educate children on the importance of pollination and is put on by Martin County Pheasants Forever.

“We do this every year in the spring,” said Thea Nutt, education chairman for Pheasants Forever.

Nutt said that this is the sixth year that youth pollination day has taken place and this year was by far the largest.

“When I started we did it with one first grade class in one school,” Nutt said.

This time around three schools participated. There were fix first grade classes from Fairmont Elementary School, one first grade class from Truman Public Schools and three first grade classes from Martin County West.

Prior to Friday’s event, Nutt visited each of the classrooms to do an in-class educational activity and a local beekeeper accompanied her.

“We teach them what pollination is and the importance of it. We talked about different types of pollinators,” Nutt said.

On Friday, all 222 students met at intersection of 250th Avenue and 70th Street, in a large grassy field, to spread wildflower seeds mixed with rice hulls. Every year students have met in a different field in the county to sprinkle the seeds.

“As a non-profit, it’s funded by all of our sponsors,” Nutt said of the seeds.

In addition to teachers and other school staff members assisting the child, several members of Martin County Pheasants Forever were there to help direct children on Friday.

Along with the pollinator activities, Nutt has also been teaching a milkweed in the classroom program at Truman Public Schools and she’s been sending the material to Fairmont Elementary School so students there can do it, too.

“At Truman we’ll take our milkweed out to a plot on Truman School grounds and plant it on our habitat by the end of the school year,” Nutt said.

This year Truman Public Schools has also partnered with Martin County Pheasants Forever to have students raise about 150 pheasants for the organization.

As it’s part of a national organization, Martin County Pheasants Forever puts on events all year round, which includes a youth conservation day, which will be held in August.

While the local chapter has just about 22 members, Nutt said they currently have the most youth in the nation.

“There’s chapters in every state and out of every state, Martin County Pheasants Forever has the most youth. You can’t find another youth program that has more than a thousand kids in it,” Nutt said.

She said that when students come to a youth event, they get a free year membership, which can accumulate year after year. Nutt said when they’re older, if they find they enjoy conservation and want to make a difference, they can join the organization at no cost.

Friday’s event was a testament to how much students enjoyed working with and learning through Pheasants Forever.

“Once they realized how important it is, they got really excited about making a difference,” Nutt said.