Restoring Habitat & Invasives Removal

Aroung 50 high school students in rural western North Carolina teamed up with a local land trust, community volunteers, government officials, and educators in this project to restore natural habitat along the Little Tennessee River Greenway.  Students learned to identify native plant species to the area, understand the problems generated by invasive plants and provide a community service in the removal of exotic, invasive plants (especially privet, honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, Japanese knotweed and kudzu). The restoration efforts helped underscore student experiences in Agriculture Education and AP Biology classes, career awareness and vocational/collegiate prepardedness.

The project contributes to the beautification and habitat restoration of a scenic recreation area, offers opportunity for community volunteerism, leadership and service learning. This service-learning project directly linked classroom instruction with hands-on learning experiences.  The inter-agency cooperation provided students with examples of potential job shadowing sites, senior project ideas and career aspirations.

The Greenway GreenWorks grant project exemplified service-learning by enabling these students to contribute their own effort toward  local habitat restoration, natural resource  and wildlife preservation.

Read more in The Branch, PLT's e-newsletter.