Allen Wilson, representing the Westerville City School District, has partnered with Improving Kids’ Environment (IKE), Indiana University, The Ohio State University (OSU), and the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Indiana to promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) implementation in schools throughout Indiana and Ohio. A two year United States Environmental Protection Agency grant has been procured by IKE with the grant funds to be equally shared between both states for school IPM implementation purposes. The project purpose is to establish IPM implementation in five different school districts. Each of these districts will contain one to two pilot schools for start-up IPM policies and practices. The districts involved will receive IPM training and support throughout the duration of the two year grant. Additionally, the plan is for each pilot school project to expand district wide to form a sustainable IPM program in each of the five districts.
The Indiana IPM Team will consist of Dr. Indra Frank and Dr. Margaret Huelsman, both representatives of IKE; Dr. Marc Lame, Indiana University; and Jerry Jochim and Dean Walendzack, MCCSC.
The Ohio IPM Team will consist of: Dr. David Shetlar, Jennifer Andon, and Barb Bloetscher, OSU Extension Entomology; and Allen Wilson, Safe Zone IPM Consultation Services/ Westerville City Schools IPM Coordinator.
Each team will work within their respective state while consulting with each other intermittently. In Ohio, the project began on September 19 in the Columbus City School District, with initial pilot school start up at Eakin Elementary.