Students’ efforts to create bullfrog license plate pay off
Sure, Senate Bill 163 might help preserve habitats for Ohio’s wetlands creatures.
But the process that went into getting the bill passed could have another meaningful legacy – inspiring a generation of young minds in Dublin.
Because they had played a role in its formation, students at Grizzell Middle School took great pride last week as they (virtually) watched Gov. Mike DeWine sign the bill into law. Among other things, it creates 33 new designs of state license plates, the sale of which benefits various causes and groups.
For the past two years, students of Grizzell social studies teacher Shawn Kaeser have pushed for a plate featuring the bullfrog. After finding a sponsor in Hilliard Republican Stephanie Kunze and writing letters to lobby other lawmakers, seeing their efforts come to fruition felt particularly special.
“We actually get to have a voice,” said Jenna Wyner, now a ninth-grader at Dublin Jerome High School. “In the past, history was just a subject. We never had a voice, and I’m not 18, so I can’t vote, so I had so much fun with Senate Bill 163.”
For Kaeser, it was the second such achievement in 10 years.
In 2010, after an eight-year effort, his students helped get the bullfrog designated as the official state frog. In celebration, the Grizzell parent-teacher organization paid for the creation of a painted fiberglass statue that graces the school’s courtyard.
Kaeser dubbed the latest effort Project Bullfrog 2.0.
“I never thought I would be this into the bullfrog,” said Kaeser, now in his 26th year of teaching. “It turned out to be one way to get kids fired up about government and having a say in their government.
“You start talking about taxes and prisons and their eyes glaze over, but
start talking about bullfrogs eating mice, well, that’s another story.”
It all began in 2002, when Kaeser and his students began working on getting the bullfrog named the state’s official amphibian. That effort hit some unforeseen snags, including the formation of a rival Cleveland-area school group that wanted the spotted salamander as the state amphibian.
After some friendly back-and-forth trash-talking – the Cleveland kids called the bullfrog a cannibal; the Dublin students countered that salamanders were lazy – the sides worked out what they dubbed “The Great Amphibian Compromise of `09.”
In 2010, then-gov. Ted Strickland signed a bill declaring the salamander as the state’s official amphibian and the bullfrog its state frog.
“It was a fun learning experience,” Kaeser said. “It taught the kids that our laws are not made overnight by a king. It can be a slow process.”
For one of the students involved, that effort helped spark a passion.
Dalton Miller remembers going to the Statehouse as an eighth-grader and sitting in on legislative hearings involving the bill.
“I remember seeing how ornate that building is and the big wooden chairs the legislators sit on,” said Miller, whose grew up in a news-junkie family. “I had an interest in that stuff beforehand, but that (working on the bill) was kind of the shot in the arm that said, `OK, I know this is something I’m interested in.’”
Miller went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science at Ohio State University in 2017. He was an aide to Dewine during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and now, at age 24, is an executive assistant to Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose.
Project Bullfrog 2.0, by comparison, was a much easier effort, taking only a little more than a year to complete. Lydia Foster was among the students who wrote letters to lawmakers.
“I actually got a letter back,” said Foster, 14, a freshman at Jerome. “I thought, `Oh someone actually read my letter. This is so cool.’”
Grizzell art teacher Todd Arnold, with the help of several students, designed the bullfrog artwork that may end up being on the official plate. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is expected to contact the school soon regarding the design, Kaeser said.
The bullfrog plate – and the 32 other newly approved plates – will join more than 140 other specialty plates that benefit organizations in Ohio. They cover everything from A (Amaranth Grand Chapter Order of the Eastern Star) to Z (Zeta Phi Beta sorority).
The bill designates that funds from the sale of bullfrog plates be used toward the preservation and protection of habitat.
To remain in the state’s lineup of specialty plates, at least 25 bullfrog plates must be sold annually. That shouldn’t be much of a problem this year, at least: Kaeser and Miller said they plan to buy one, and Wyner and Foster said their families plan to, as well.
“I’m going to be excited to see it on the road,” Wyner said, “and know that my classmates and I made that possible.” kgordon@dispatch.com @kgdispatch