Extension IPM Project Serving as National Model

The success three Mobile County public schools have had in reducing pests in classrooms and lunchrooms is living proof of the old adage that an “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Right: Auburn's Dean Road Elementary School serves as the model for what is now a statewide program aimed at minimizing pesticide use in public schools.

The success can be attributed to a simple but effective form of pest control known as integrated pest management --- a big term for a simple process that involves controlling factors in the school that may harbor pests such as roaches and termites. It all boils down to that basic principle of prevention to forestall complications further down the road. This could be as simple as removing mulch from areas around the school facilities --- favorite hangout for roaches and termites --- or replacing plants that are apt to attract unwelcome four-legged interlopers. Chemical pesticides are used only as a last resort when other methods fail to keep insects below damaging levels.

The effort in the Mobile County community of Pritchard was spearheaded by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in partnership with Auburn University and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.

“We want to eliminate pests without using unnecessary pesticides,” says Dr. Xing Ping Hu, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System entomologist and Auburn University assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology. “That’s the goal, along with creating a safe learning environment for children.”

Pritchard, an underserved, low-income community, was singled out by Hu and others in the program as a top priority. The work was based on a model that had been developed in conjunction with the Auburn City Schools.

Before becoming involved with the model, several Pritchard schools had dealt with serious cockroach problems, but like so many underserved schools, lacked the resources to get these populations under control. Three schools --- an elementary, middle and high school --- were targeted.

School-based IPM approaches typically involve training custodians and lunchroom workers about steps they can take to rid schools spaces of items that may attract or harbor pests. However, the Pritchard effort involved much more.

“We got all of the people involved from the school superintendent on down to the students,” Hu says. “We knew we need to motivate people --- instill them with a passion for IPM.”

Hu and others organized training sessions not only for the schools administrators and faculty and staff but for students as well. They also contacted the local news media to alert them to what was taking place.

Parents and other townspeople were reached through Earth Days, public health fairs, and an Environmental Day sponsored by the Environmental Center in Mobile.

Other schools have since been added. The entire Mobile school system eventually signed on to the approach. Dr. Lawrence “Fudd” Graham, an Auburn University entomologist who was involved with the initial IPM project with the Auburn City Schools, is working with school system administrators throughout the state to implement the model. Schools systems in addition to the Mobile County and Auburn City School Systems that have adopted the IPM school model include the Alexander City Schools, the Elmore County Schools, and the Geneva County Schools.

Hu is especially pleased at how school principals and teachers have embraced the program. Many of them, she says, have commented on the sharp decrease in winged intruders in school classrooms and hallways. It’s also credited as a great learning tool for students who are learning not only about insect control but insect behavior.

Other states also have taken notice and begun developing programs of their own based on the Alabama model.

The effort also has even attracted the attention of the federal government. In 2003, the Alabama School and Community IPM Project received Awards for Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Foundation for IPM Education for development of a model IPM system.

For more information about the IPM school model, contact Dr. Xing Ping Hu at (334) 844-6392 or Dr. Lawrence “Fudd” Graham at (334) 844-2563.

[Source: Dr. Xing Ping Hu, Alabama Cooperative Extension System Entomologist and Auburn University Assistant Professor of Entomology and Plant Pathology, (334) 844-6392.]

Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 28, 2004 05:42 PM | TrackBack