October 4, 2013 at 4:28 p.m.
Middle school students working to clean up their backyard
Science students removing Buckthorn from trail
Middle school students working to clean up their backyard
The students went outside Wednesday to pull out as much of the leafy menace as they could find. The goal is to clear out the enemy invasive species while prepping the woods on the west side of the school for an educational nature trail.
Science teacher Lisa Swaney said the project was initiated after she and her colleagues came up with the idea to build a nature trail in the woods between the middle school and the high school.
"Mark Jacobson (a seventh and eighth-grade science teacher) and I took a class this summer as part of the STEM grant," Swaney said.
"The philosophy is that if the kids have more ownership over something, they're going to learn more and respect it more. So we kind of threw ideas around and Mark came up with the idea of getting rid of the Buckthorn and starting this trail."
"On the west side of the school, the seventh and eighth-grade science teachers are designing an interpretive nature trail. Along the way, one of the problems in order to have a healthy ecosystem is we need to get rid of the invasive species. We have been pulling Buckthorn and the kids are teamed up in groups and we're weighing how much each group is pulling and we're making a competition of it," Swaney added.
The students were divided into groups, with team names such as Buck Norris, the Beastly Buckthorn Breakers, Beat the Buckthorn, and the Buckthorn Bandits, and sent out to pull as much Buckthorn as they could. Whichever group pulls the most will get a prize.
"We'll have a prize for the team that gets the most Buckthorn at the end of the collection," Swaney said. "We haven't decided on the prize yet. We're trying to think of something that will be worthy for the kids."
After the Buckthorn is pulled, students will begin work on the trail itself, which will turn into an outdoor classroom, of sorts, once completed.
"We're trying to incorporate more hands-on science into the classroom. We started thinking about how this trail could cover earth science, life science, and environmental science which is what is being taught in seventh and eighth grade, and then we just kind of went from there and started brainstorming and got our plan in place," Swaney said.
"The goal is to incorporate all aspects of the class into the trail. We're learning about classifying and identifying trees. There's a stream back there so they'll be doing water quality tests. In eighth grade, they learn about soil. It's all already part of our curriculum and now the trail is a part of that as well."
That learning will continue on into the future, Swaney said, with additions such as a garden a possible project for later classes.
"The goal is that each year, the new students will be able to continue to use the trail as a learning tool and help with its upkeep," Swaney said.
"We're not sure it's going to happen, but we've also talked about putting a garden in and making it more of a habitat area where we can bring in perennials that will bring in butterflies and hummingbirds and things like that."
The trail won't just be for students. Teachers are hoping that members of the community will stop by and read the signs and postings put up by the students.
"Our goal is, because the football field is here and the soccer field and baseball field are here between the high school and the middle school, we'll start having more community members use this trail as well, so they can see what is being taught in the middle school," Swaney said.
As for the students, they were excited to get out of the classroom and do something to help the environment.
"I think this is a great thing for the entire class because we get to get outside and do fun stuff. I care about the environment so this is great," seventh grader Mason Kelter said.
"I feel really good about this because it's making our forest better and making it gorgeous. I always pick up nasty stuff that's on my street because a lot of people go on my street," seventh grader Brittney Statezny added.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at marcus@rivernewson line.com.
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