Patrons at Fluid Coffee House in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood were greeted on Tuesday by smiling little faces asking them to save the bees.

Kindergarteners from Downtown Denver Expeditionary School have begun a campaign to save the honeybees after spending the school year learning about insects.

Teacher Jillian Williams said the kindergarten program at the charter school has spent the year studying all kinds of insects, using reading, writing and art. Late in the year, the children examined the roles insects play in the environment, including bees and other pollinators.

“The kindergartners were immersed in reading, writing, talking, sharing and acting throughout the process,” Williams said. “They did fieldwork at Hudson Gardens, where they saw a beekeeper in action and took a class. We did a tasting of raw honey in our own classroom [and] viewed a TED talk about why bees are disappearing.”

One of “texts” the school used to teach the kindergarteners about bees was the documentary film “Wings of Life,” narrated by Meryl Streep. Through the film and other activities, the children learned that bees and pollinators are necessary to produce much of the food people eat.Williams said students also learned that when pesticides are used on crops, bees ingest those chemicals. That’s one of the reasons the bee population is declining.

The teachers asked the children what should be done about the bees.

“They had mentioned letter-writing as a way to tell people about the bees disappearing,” Williams said. Among those the classes wanted to tell were President Obama, the mayor, the Queen of Denmark and “the whole universe.”

Taking their many ideas, the school put together the Save the Bees fundraising campaign. The students used art class to create bee pins, which they have been selling for $1 at Fluid and various other downtown locations recently. They also wrote letters that appear with the pins:

“Dear People of Denver,We have a giant problem! Bees are dying because people spray pesticides. It kills the bees when they drink nectar with pesticides in it. Did you know honeybees pollinate strawberries? Without honeybees, we won’t have strawberry shortcake. Honeybees also pollinate almonds. We need bees to have nuts. You can help us save honeybees by planting flowers in gardens. Please do not put pesticides.Yours truly,Mathilde CohenDowntown Denver Expeditionary School”

“In kindergarten, one of our standards is opinion writing,” Williams said, adding that this includes writing letters and creating the buttons.“We really just try to build with our school culture service learning,” Williams said. “Part of our philosophy is developing citizens that we can send out into the world that can solve problems.”

While the students have not sent their letter directly to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, one of the class member’s mothers works with the mayor’s office.

“It would be really, really great if they got a response from him,” Williams said.

Williams said thus far the students have raised $300. The money will be used to purchase ingredients for seed bombs — including seeds for many native flowers — that will be handed out at the school’s Celebration of Learning program later this month.

“This process will continue into the next school year when the then-kindergarteners start their plant expedition as first graders,” Williams said. “Reflection is a large component of the work that students at DDES do.”

— rachel@coloradostatesman.com