Do One Thing – Pitch-in and Pitch out

April 23, 2010 during 3rd and 4th periods, Northwood High School students will attend an assembly by the Alliance for Climate Education(ACE). See the trailer at http://www.acespace.org/get-inspired/trailer. ACE pushes students to get involved in improving and protecting their environment by Doing One Thing – DOT – every day. Following the assembly Northwood students and community members will Do One Thing by cleaning up our athletic fields and two adjacent stream parks – Sligo Creek and Northwest Branch for 3 hours of Student Service Learning from 2:10-5:10.
The Washington Nationals were excited to hear what Northwood is doing for the Anacostia River watershed that flows past Nationals Park and invited us to see them play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 7:05 PM. Students participating in the service project are eligible to receive one of the 100 free tickets donated by the Nats!
Since November, Northwood High School students have worked hard to restore 15 acres of State Highway Administration land adjacent to the school. In November 60 volunteers, including 32 students, cleaned-up 10,580 pounds of trash that has been dumped on the land for 50 plus years. In March, 25 volunteers, including 19 students, began construction on the Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail – a half mile nature interpretive trail that connects the school to Northwest Branch. The trail usage will include: educating about human impacts on the local watershed and the Chesapeake Bay and ways people can improve the Bay’s health, the Northwood’s Cross Country Trail course, and an outdoor, environmental education classroom for Northwood’s Academy of Technology, Environmental and Systems Sciences. Horticultural students have also planted 150 native plants in the greenhouse to replace mowed grass into a native plant meadow.
On Sunday, April 25th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, students and the community will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day by continuing work on the SHA land. The five partners in this restoration project, Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Northwood High School, Friends of Sligo Creek, Neighbors of Northwest Branch, and the State Highway Administration, invite the community to clean-up more trash, remove invasive plant species, and plant trees and native plants. Work will begin at 1:00 pm at Kaplan Stadium behind Northwood High School.
After the trash and invasive species are removed, the native plants are planted, the trail is built, the interpretive signs are in place, the partners, students, neighbors, and community will celebrate the opening of the Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail on National Trails Day, Saturday, June 5th, with a 5k Fun Run and Walk. The ribbon cutting will begin at 10:00 am with the Fun Run and Walk to follow. Registration is not required. We invite the community to celebrate the completion of the restoration project and trails in our community on that day.

Using Tools and Getting Dirty: Trail Construction

The Northwood Chesapeak Bay trail is almost complete. Many major obstacles have been overcome as the snow has disappeared allowing for major progress. A large hole in the middle of the trail has been filled with dirt from the transit center. The team received dirt from the Silver Spring Transit center because it has been under cement and structures for many years. The sterile nature of the dirt helps to prevent the transportation of invasive species. In addition, student volunteers have been benching the sidehill and making the trail smoother and easier to walk on. We hope to complete the trail very soon. Please come help on April 25th at Kaplan Stadium behind Northwood High School to participate in a trash cleanup and invasive species removal work day.

Posted by Tom, 2011.