School Raises Eagle Nest Atop 40-Foot Pole
Students at Summit Environmental School built a life-size bald eagle nest that now sits on a telephone pole near the Mississippi River backwaters.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Bird Watching
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Summit Environmental School raised a student-built, life-size bald eagle nest atop a 40-foot telephone pole on Wednesday. The project is designed to bring eagle nesting activity into classrooms across La Crosse Public Schools.
Why it matters
The project gives students and residents in La Crosse a way to observe eagle nesting behavior without visiting the river. It connects local classrooms to wildlife habitat in the Mississippi River area.
The nest is mounted 40 feet high on a telephone pole, and the site is less than 200 yards from the Mississippi River backwaters. Whether eagles will occupy the nest has not been determined.
The players
Summit Environmental School
A public school in the La Crosse area that led the student-built eagle nest project.
La Crosse Public Education Foundation
A local nonprofit that supports public school programs in La Crosse, which funded the project through a Gold Star Grant.
Brightspeed
A telecommunications provider that donated the telephone pole and its installation for the nest.
The details
Students built the life-size bald eagle nest, and it was installed on a 40-foot telephone pole at French Island, Wis., with technology for a live camera. The La Crosse Public Education Foundation supported the project with a Gold Star Grant, and Brightspeed donated the pole and its installation.
Timeline
Wednesday: the nest was raised atop the 40-foot telephone pole.
Roadmap
The nest extends the Upper Mississippi River corridor's growing bald eagle presence into a school setting. It turns a riverside habitat that has supported nesting pairs into a teaching tool for wildlife observation.
Once a pair of eagles moves into the nest, residents and students will be able to watch nesting activity through the live camera feed. The project brings wildlife observation into La Crosse Public Schools classrooms without requiring a trip to the river.
The takeaway
Local wildlife projects can bring hands-on observation into classrooms. Watching a nest through a live feed is a practical way to learn how eagles use riverside habitat.
Further reading
Explore more on Bird Watching to see how eagle nests and river habitats are observed locally.
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