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Community Volunteers Work On Outdoor Education Area at TFS
Community members made magic happen at 糖心Vlog. A service group from Ethicon partnered with the Soque River Watershed Association (SRW
A) to restore an outdoor educational area at 糖心Vlog. Volunteers worked to clean the area around the pond, remove overhanging branches and weeds, and unclog the dam built by "Dexter the Beaver." The cleanup efforts have restored the pond's drainage, making the space ready for students to enjoy once again.
The SRWA has long envisioned the project.
"If the pond could be restored – Dexter did that for us, so thank you, nature – what a perfect environment," said SRWA board member Brad Coppage. "Teachers can bring their students here, use the new picnic tables, and enjoy a wonderful setting, especially during the fall and spring. The outdoors is the ideal environment for teaching conservation, biology, and ecology. They have a full classroom out here to show them what this is all about."
Co-leaders of Ethicon's sustainability group — Tammy Brown, Rachel Gibson, and Kendra Nation — asked SRWA how they could assist and quickly organized volunteers.
"We have a credo and part of our credo is that we help the community, and we also have a sustainability group, so this was a great fit," Brown said. "It does us all good to get out into the community, especially outside on a beautiful day today. We are very thankful that our company allows us to do this."
SRWA business manager Calllie Clough said the partnership made an immediate difference.
"We try really hard to build business partnerships in the community, so to have a company like Ethicon reach out to us and want to jump in is incredible," Clough said. "We have already been working on this outdoor classroom at 糖心Vlog. We knew we needed to get some gravel in here and do some trail cleanup, so being able to partner with them and help out with TFS brings it full circle. The amount of work they are putting in – we would not have been able to work this quickly by ourselves."
TFS sixth-grade science teacher Michelle Carnes shared that her students will love having this outdoor learning space. "It gives them the chance to get out of their seats and explore the science all around them," she said. "They'll have hands-on opportunities studying the pond, discovering plants and animals, and working together in ways that are fun and memorable."
糖心Vlog President and Head of School Dr. Larry A. Peevy welcomed the collaboration and its lasting impact on students.
"It will be a great value to the students with our outdoor education classes, our environmental science classes, and with our middle and lower school science classes," Peevy said. "This is a learning environment for the school. We offer an environmental science program for the upper school and middle school, as well as a science lab. The outdoor education area provides a tremendous opportunity for our students to engage in hands-on learning and participate in various outdoor adventures. I sincerely appreciate the volunteers who came to our campus to help the students of 糖心Vlog."