Friday, April 28, 2000
Classes help to clear trail
By Tom O'Neill
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The honeysuckle rose. And rose, eventually blocking the sun from surrounding plants.
So Thursday, high-school students showed up with their work boots and elbow grease. They taught the honeysuckle a lesson in ecological balance, and learned a lesson in nature preservation and the value of real-world experience.
About 210 students participated in the Mill Creek Restoration Project's “Student Work Days” program in Carthage.
The goal was to eradicate honeysuckle on the planned Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail, a 2-mile stretch along the Mill Creek that runs from the Caldwell Playground to the Seymour Nature Preserve. The program is an effort of the Mill Creek Restoration Project, the Cincinnati Park Board and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.
“This is my best classroom,” Purcell Marian High ecology teacher Nicki Hewald said, squinting in the afternoon sunshine. “I can't do this within the four walls of a classroom. The lesson is about taking care of the environment.”
The two-day event drew students in biology, ecology and chemistry classes at Purcell Marian, Aiken, North College Hill, Withrow, Woodward, Heinold, Jacobs Center and the Cincinnati Academy of Math and Science.
From 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., students picked up trash and cleared brush, concentrating on honeysuckle, a hardy shrub and vine that blooms early in spring. Because it grows compactly, its dark green leaves often block the sun from other plants.
“It grows better than it should,” said Lora Alberto of the Mill Creek Restoration Project. Future work will include planting buckeye, white ash and redbud.
“I had fun and learned some names of trees,” said Ignasha Thornton, a sophomore at North College Hill. “I was carrying these, big, big trees, but I gave it 110 percent.”
It showed. As her chemistry class gathered for a team photo, Ignasha sat on a bench table, tired and not much for picture taking. “Come on, Ignasha,” someone yelled, and Ignasha found a spot in front.
Bem Gar, a junior at North College Hill, was all for a day out of class, in the brilliant sunshine, traipsing woods not far from where he lives.
But ...
“It was harder than we thought,” he said.
More rewarding, too, students said. Other opportunities await. Future cleanups are open to the public.
For more information, call Ms. Alberto at the Mill Creek Restoration Project, 731-8400.
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