This year Daniel Conway opened Bee Club, a club focused on improving life for native pollinators.

“For my Modern Injustice project last year in English II Honors, junior Maclean Dickey and I researched the bees dying in Mrs. Fowler’s class and I just thought [saving bees] is really cool,” Conway said.

After doing some more research following the project, Conway started Bee Club, with Director of Curriculum Dr. Jay Greenlinger as the club advisor in room F2.

“Nothing could tear [Conway] apart from his goal of becoming the greatest bee businessman (or beesinessman) to walk the earth” club vice president, junior Nate Trux wrote to the Talon.

The club is planning on turning the bare space of land behind the G-building into a garden with pollinator-friendly plants to improve the lives of all native pollinators. Already, the club has raised the required $500 needed to purchase plants and irrigation.

“I am passionate about this [club] for two reasons: 1) preserving and restoring nature is a passion of mine, and 2) I am dedicated to supporting students when they find an issue about which they are passionate” advisor Greenlinger wrote to the Talon.

With the help of Greenlinger, Conway and his club applied to a program by the Honey Bee Conservancy, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness about the danger of losing honey bees. This organization has a selective program called Sponsor-a-Hive.

“The club recently received a grant to build a hive for Mason bees, which are prolific pollinators. They also are safer to have on campus because they are neither venomous nor aggressive,” Greenlinger wrote.

The ultimate goal of the club is to enhance the OPHS campus to benefit the local environment by utilizing native plants and native bees, rather than interrupting the natural ecosystem.

“After [the garden] is built, Daniel will be looking to expand his project to other Oak Park schools and all around our community,” member of the club junior Maclean Dickey wrote to the Talon.

Conway’s ultimate plan is to raise awareness about the importance of bees in people’s everyday lives and create a safe haven for them in the Oak Park Community.

When asked if he had anything else to add, Conway, closed with this statement: “Save the Bees!”