AHMEEK — Arbor vitae shrubs on the west side of the hedge stood about knee-high Tuesday.
They have some growing to do before they catch up with the full-grown hedge at Keweenaw County’s roadside park at the intersection of U.S. Highway 41 and Cliff Drive, but that’s more than could be said of charred stumps and branches these new arbor vitaes replaced.
Half of the hedge at the park was destroyed in August in a fire that jumped Cliff Drive and was burning in the swamp on the west side of the road before firefighters got it under control. The burnt hedge remained a blackened tangle throughout the winter until students from Horizons High School in Mohawk helped the Keweenaw County Road Commission tear them out.
The new arbor vitaes were also courtesy of the class, which performed the replanting as part of a service learning project. They selected the project from among a number of proposals.
“It was just most convenient and it’s (more visible),” Horizons junior Dave Bessolo said. “The other project was ... fix up Seneca Lake. But I don’t know, people wouldn’t see it and this was one of the major projects, the biggest projects.”
Horizons principal Marlene Horton agreed the park’s proximity to the school made it an attractive project.
“Our school’s just up the road a mile or two, so it’s right in our area,” she said.
By about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the students had planted about two-thirds of the new arbor vitaes, spread mulch and planted lilies within a new circle of stones taken from the swamp across the street, and repainted the sign that directs people to the park’s bathrooms.
They were also working on the repair of an archway and the repainting of a foundation which held up a decorative boulder.
The project got started shortly after Horizons teacher Chris Davidson attended a conference on service learning hosted by the Copper Country Intermediate School District. Service learning is a program of the Michigan Community Service Commission that seeks to encourage students to integrate classroom instruction objectives into community service projects.
In the case of the Horizons project, Davidson said, “we were able to tie it into biology and chemistry real well.”
For instance, the class took soil samples from planting locations throughout the site last week and tested them for nitrate content, phosphate content, and pH.
“My math class is in charge of the budget,” Davidson said.
Through that process, the students learned skills such as the use of spreadsheets.
Horizons junior Erin McCollum said the project taught other lessons as well.
“Imagination, creativity, responsibility, all that stuff; hard work, how to help out the community, be a good person,” she said.
Davidson said 25 students took part in the physical work the project involved.
He said several members of the class of 2008 contributed to the project, but graduated before the digging began.
Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider@mininggazette.com
