We are thrilled that Homewood High School’s Environmental Club has adopted one mile of Shades Creek Greenway! Student volunteers completed their first workday in the fall and will continue weekly trail maintenance efforts throughout 2019.
Environmental club sponsor Melonie McBrayer answered a few questions about the club and Homewood High School’s commitment to giving back to their community and local trails.
Can you tell us more about the mission of the environmental club? Originally it began as a recycling effort in my classroom and then expanded into the entire high school and eventually our school system. Interest grew in recycling more from everyone seeing how much paper is consumed and used within a school. We now include aluminum, plastic, and cardboard at the high school.
Student involvement and participation grew from my Environmental Science and AP Environmental Science classes wanting to get involved in local environmental efforts, learning about local environmental issues, and sharing that knowledge with the student body. That’s been our mission over the past 10 years or so – Think Globally, Act Locally.
Why did the club decide to join our Adopt-a-Trail program? Our Environmental Club has participated in the Friends of Shades Creek Clean-Up every September for the past several years. And for the past three years a second spring clean-up. So joining the Adopt-a-Trail program is an extension of what we’ve always done and follows our ‘Act Local’ mission.
How is Shades Creek Greenway (Lakeshore Trail) used by the high school and wider community? It is an integral part of and resource for the wellness of Homewood and surrounding communities. Our cross country and track teams use the trail year-around as well as our physical education classes. Our faculty has a wellness competition every October (‘Walk-tober’) in which use of the trail increases exponentially. We also have several faculty/staff that are avid runners or walkers that use the trail multiple times every week.
Thank you, Melonie and Homewood High School students!