A Two Year Project
2001-2002
In our first year of our Student Service Learning Project, the seventh grade class examined our impact on the Chesapeake Bay . We then examined the stream behind our school and identified a need for a buffer zone to protect the health of the stream since we are part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I then contact the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and arranged an in-school field trip. All of the seventh grade classes evaluated the health of the stream with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. We found it to be in "fair" health. As a class, we then developed a plan to increase the health of the stream for the next year's class.
2002 – 2003
In our second year of our Student Service Learning Project we reviewed the findings from the prior year. We then mapped out the stream and identified factors that are affecting the health of the stream. We identified foreign plant life that was restricting the growth of mature trees. More mature trees will increase the effectiveness of the buffer zone. As a class we contacted the school board by writing letters describing the project and requesting support from the maintenance division to remove the invasive plant species and replant more trees with help from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was during this year that I became the Student Service Learning Coordinator for Murray Hill Middle.