Fall Service Learning: Botany, Trail Work, and Stewardship

This Fall, teachers, and students continued their efforts toward service learning by working on our campus! Rock Point School is located on a unique and amazing parcel of land that we share with community partners. For this community service project, we learned more about the land itself, its conservation over the years, and how we can protect and nurture it so that others can enjoy it for generations to come!

We worked closely with Chuck Courcy, the Rock Point Property Manager (and former RPS Staff!), to tackle some critical projects that will help keep our land healthy and thriving. First, students learned to identify invasive buckthorn. Buckthorn is a problem in woodlands and wetlands as it rapidly spreads and competes with native plants for resources. A crop of buckthorn can reduce biodiversity and degrade the quality of wildlife habitat. After learning how to identify buckthorn and why it is a problem for our forests, we found patches along the trails and cut the buckthorn back or pulled it up when possible.

Students and staff also tackled the necessary seasonal tasks of mulching areas of trails and gardens and chopping wood to get ready for the winter! With this first service project of the year, we emphasized the importance of stewardship for our school and for the environment. We can all play an essential role in caring for the land.