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GC students learn<br>during Earth Day

GC VILLAGE — Grand Canyon students from kindergarten up through high school participated in Earth Day activities last week at Hopi Point, Mather Point, Ten-X Campground and on campus.

Gary Weber of the U.S. Forest Service teaches fifth-grader Paige Wnek how to determine a tree’s age. They had just bored a section out of a tree at Ten-X Campground.

Marcia Woodburn, National Park Service revegetation crew member who helps with the School-to-Work program, oversaw a project for high-schoolers in a spot near Mather Point just off the Rim Trail.

Emily King, NPS biological science technician, said the reveg project involved the planting of native species in areas that have been trampled by tourists cutting across from South Entrance Road to the rim. Eventually, the spot will be fenced off like the rest of the area to help protect it from such activity.

Students from teacher Betty Hultin’s second semester biology class served as section leaders during Thursday’s project. In all, 99 high-school students and eight teachers participated.

A few days earlier, middle-school students worked on a reveg project of its own at Hopi Point. Seventh-graders had been planning the project for a couple of months and they showed eighth-graders the ropes for last week’s work.

"The kids had a lot of fun and worked really hard," teacher DeAnn Ross said. "It was great because it’s so good for these kids to learn they can contribute to the community and make it a nice place for tourists to come. We try to promote good civic responsibility to the kids."

The middle-school project involved 68 students. Around 150 native species were planted around Hopi Point and down a pathway.

Delaware North Parks Services contributed lunch with a few employees serving as cooks for the middle-schoolers. High school students headed out to the Rowe Well picnic area for their lunch after wrapping things up at Mather Point. They spent the afternoon there having fun activities.

Elementary students began the day with morning classroom activities. Students switched classrooms for demonstrations from various speakers. Later in the morning, they headed out to Ten-X Campground in Kaibab National Forest.

Fun activities teaching the kids about the environment were staged and students enjoyed lunch in the forest.

DNPS played a big role in this year’s activities again. The local store staged contests for T-shirt design and grocery bag design. A few weeks ago, they handed out several prizes in each grade to the top entrants.

Miguel Davila designed this year’s Earth Day T-shirt. DNPS donated shirts to students and many others to be worn during Earth Day activities.


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