Illinois has an official state tree, state flower, and even a state bird. Now, thanks to eighth graders at Naperville’s Lincoln Junior High School, there’s some buzz of an official state bee.
After months of research by their class, three eighth graders, Liza Disanto, Sofia Nicoloudes and Ahana Patel, recently testified to lawmakers in Springfield on why the black and gold bumblebee should be the next symbol of Illinois.
“When we first got introduced to this assignment, I thought that this was just another assignment. There’s no way that I’m going to be going to the capitol to make a state bee,’ said Nicoloudes.
“It was a great time just because we got to experience like a real day working as a senator, and it was super cool,” said Patel.
Classroom project takes flight
The journey to the Capitol began last fall when Illinois State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr decided to partner with the eighth-grade class to try to establish an official state bee.
“We had students who wanted to bring more attention to the importance of pollinators. And there are no more important pollinators than bees,” said Yang Rohr.
Eighth-grade science teacher Barb Bell then put her students in groups of three, where they began researching Illinois’ native bees.
“Once everyone presented to their class the species that they researched, all the children voted on which bee they thought would be the best representation for the state of Illinois,” said Bell.
Students narrow down buzzworthy bees
Out of more than 400 bee species, eighth graders selected their top three: the American bumblebee, the bicolored striped sweat bee, and the black and gold bumblebee.
They then sent out a survey to students statewide to vote for the queen bee, and the black and gold bumblebee came out on top.
Disanto said the bee was the perfect choice because of its environmental impact.
“Especially in Illinois, being such a big farm place, it really is such a big deal to have them because they pollinate everything we use… like the flowers, the crops, the native plants, everything in Illinois is really determined off of this bee,” she said.
After the voting results, Disanto, Nicoloudes, and Patel, one of the groups that researched the black and gold species, were selected to testify in Springfield in support of a bill that would make it the official state bee.
Legislators praise student testimony for Illinois bee
While there, they received a tour of the building from Rep. Yang Rohr before presenting their research to lawmakers, who praised their testimony, according to Bell.
“All the committee members signed on to the bill, and all of the committee members had incredible positive feedback on our Lincoln Lancers of their poise, their articulation, and their delivery of the information when they were testifying in committee,” said Bell.
Yang Rohr said she was proud of the students, commending their hard work in highlighting the importance of the black and gold bumblebee.
“It wasn’t an easy thing. They did such a great job making the case for the state bee, and I’m just so appreciative of them,” she said.
Now, students are buzzing with excitement as they await the bill’s movement from the Senate floor to the governor for final approval, signing it into law.
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Photo Courtesy: Naperville School District 203
