Joe Walker students work to protect stream that runs by school
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Fifth-grade student Hunter Reedy looks Wednesday for spots where new birdhouses and benches can be placed along the walking trail at Joe Walker Elementary School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Taylor Schumacher, a student in Laurie Maglietta’s fifth-grade class, draws on a map Wednesday showing where bushes and shrubs should be planted along a tributary of Chartiers Creek at Joe Walker Elementary School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Rachael Cox, a student in Laurie Maglietta’s fifth-grade class, is shown on the walking trail along a tributary of Chartiers Creek Wednesday at Joe Walker Elementary School.
The streams that flow through our communities are not something most adults give a lot of thought to.
But fifth-graders at Joe Walker Elementary School in South Franklin Township are working with officials from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to help stem erosion along a stream through the planting of native trees and shrubs.
The Pittsburgh-based conservancy has been given a $55,000 grant from the EQT Foundation to overhaul the banks of a stream that runs alongside the playground at the school. Students in Laurie Maglietta’s fifth-grade class noticed the playground and walking trail behind the school appeared to be shrinking, and the culprit was erosion on the stream banks.
The students wrote letters to the conservancy asking for its assistance, and the organization added the Joe Walker work to its list of summer and fall projects. On Wednesday afternoon, students devised plans for where shrubs and trees will be planted to help preserve and stabilize the stream bank. The shrubs and trees are currently being grown in the greenhouse that Joe Walker Elementary School operates.
According to Mark Killar, a watershed manager with the conservancy, the culprits for the erosion include development, industry and the fact that, at some point, someone tried to straighten the stream, which is a tributary of Chartiers Creek. Work will begin on the project this summer, with the shrubs and trees likely to be planted in the fall.
Conservancy officials will then make follow-up visits to make sure the erosion has stopped.
The conservancy works on about five to 10 similar projects every year, and “we try to prioritize where the project will deliver the most bang for the buck,” Killar explained.
The project at Joe Walker Elementary School had the added advantage of offering an educational component, he said.
Along with enhancing the school’s outdoor areas, the overall water quality of Chartiers Creek will be improved by the reduction of sediment coming from the stream once the erosion along its banks has been stopped.
Pennsylvania has the third most streams of any state in the country, said Greg Schaetzle, a watershed manager with the conservancy, and “it’s up to us to protect and improve it.”
“This is a great opportunity to involve a younger generation,” he added. “Because they’re going to inherit the environment when we’re not here.”