Project Description: Students selected an area on school property to turn into a
native plant garden to reduce surface water runoff and create a
biodiverse habitat for local pollinator species. Students worked with
the Kent Conservation district to select plants, remove grass, and
plant several varieties of native plants.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship: Students have become ambassadors for the importance of local
plants, sharing their understanding of native plants with teachers and
students around the school.
Partners: Kent Conservation District
Teachers: 1
Students: 20
Funder: GVSU College of Education
Project Description: We planted native bush honeysuckle and virgin’s bower in a
downward-sloping area of our courtyard, leading to a storm drain. The
purpose of these plants was to catch stormwater runoff from our gym
roof before it flows across the lawn and down the storm drain into
Buck Creek.
We also built a wooden pallet planter and planted virgin’s bower
in the planter in order to add vegetation to the wall of the gym in
order to reduce the total volume of stormwater runoff that results
from rainwater hitting the gym wall and landing on the lawn below.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship: Students were visibly empowered by the opportunity to actually
put into place the green infrastructure concepts we learned throughout
the year in AP Environmental Science. Many of them expressed desire to
start their own gardens this summer, and those who have home gardens
already expressed interest in convincing their parents to add more
native plants to their gardens.
Many of them have also articulated plans to attempt to follow a
more plant-based diet this summer as a result of our discussions about
the way animal agriculture negatively impacts water quality in the
surrounding environment. Manure, growth hormones, and antibiotic
contamination of local waterways are all negative environmental
impacts that students discussed hoping to mitigate by eating less meat.
Partners: Kent Conservation District
Teachers: 1
Students: 41
Funder: GVSU College of Education
Project Description:
This project improved an existing rain garden by adding more wood
chips and mulch, planting more native sedges and wildflowers in our
school’s courtyard. This year, we used an erosion control blanket to
further limit the contribution of our school’s runoff to sediment
pollution in Buck Creek. We also visited Buck Creek with Elein
Buckstein from LGROW and measured water quality at Buck Creek. Next
year we’ll be working with Eileen to pilot an LGROW student
water-quality monitoring project that we plan to integrate with our
Groundswell project next year.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:
Students also learned how to measure water quality in Buck Creek and
will be conducting an on-going water quality monitoring project with
LGROW next year. Two students involved with Groundswell are going on
to study forestry and environmental engineering at Northern Michigan
next fall, with another attending Hope College to study biology and
environmental science. The student attending Hope College will be
participating in Hope’s Day One research program where she will be
working on an e.coli genomic sequencing water quality project in the
Macatawa watershed. I expect many of the students involved in this
year’s Groundswell project to have more favorable views of native
plants when it comes to landscaping their own homes and communities in
the future. I think they will also have favorable views of gardening
as a hobby and activity to participate in. As more and more previous
Groundswell students progress through college in related fields such
as environmental science, I plan to have them come back to previous
students and talk more about the impact that the Groundswell project
has had on their educational journeys.
Partners:
Revery Studio, Lower Grand River Organization Watersheds, Grand
Valley State University - Professor Crystal Scott-Tunstall
Teachers:
Jordan Dischinger-Smedes, 11th & 12th AP Environmental Science;
Caryn Stransky, 9th-12th Grade Art; Emily Gunsch, 11th & 12th AP
English Literature
Students sampled water quality in Buck Creek four times this school
year and learned which pollutants in Buck Creek had the highest levels
as well as water quality sampling methods. They will be using this
experience to recommend water quality monitoring supplies to be
purchased for next year’s students to build on their efforts.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:
By having students identify key pollutants and advocate for changes
in land use practices (less salt on adjacent driveways, less
fertilizer on lawns or more strategic application) they will have
practiced two of the central behaviors of watershed stewardships.
Partners:
Friends of Buck Creek Watershed, Grand Valley State University, West
Michigan Environmental Action Council
Teachers:
Jordan Dischinger-Smedes, 11th & 12th Grade, AP Environmental Science
