Cooperation on a battlefield

On Sunday, September 28, South Western High School partnered with Hanover High School to complete a service project at the Gettysburg Battlefield (NPS site). Approximately 20 students from the two schools worked between rain showers to support the battlefield reclamation project. Essentially, large sections of battlefield have become "battle-forests" and the park service is working to restore the area to similar conditions that existed during the battle. Sections of trees have been cleared away and now there is a need to plant the grasses that would have been in their place. Instead of the NPS spending valuable funds on native grass seed, the students spent the day collecting seed from the existing grasses. Not only does this save funding for other projects but is also more environmentally sustainable since it removes the need for transportation of grass seed from another location.

In addition to all of the students who gave up part of their weekend, special thanks goes to Allison Frederick, president of Hanover HS Student Council and Sarah Cashdollar, president of South Western Student Council for organizing the day. Also, Brady Bialek and Emily LeFevre for their continued efforts as conference co-chairs to support the National Park Service. Lastly, Jennifer Gomulka and Kyle Kauffman were the advisors from Hanover and South Western respectively.

Arches National Park

Last week I experienced one of the most bizzarre landscapes ever. Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is very remote desert. It has a lot of sand and slick or red rock whichever you prefer. Awhile back this park caused some problems for the National Park Service. A lot of people started calling them the National Paving Service because there is a long winding road that goes right through the remote wilderness of Arches. People were upset with this because they felt that the NPS was there to protect and conserve the backcountry. Now dont get me wrong that is one of the main goals of the National Park Services goals, but they are also there to give the opportunity to public so that they can experience the great and vast wilderness without having to hiking into dangerous and treacherous lands. Now I am big outdoorsman and eventhough I dont like the idea of a road going through a beautiful area I understand that it is the right thing to do. National parks are one thing I feel this entire country can agree on. These past couple years have been pretty rough on Americas people. I feel that it has split us apart and that one thing that can help pull us together is the National Parks. Now this anology might be kinda dumb but I think it really illustrates what America is going through. We are in a giant game of capture the flag (power). Where two sides are constantly arguing. The National Parks are no mans land and gives us something in common.

Flight 93 National Memorial

On June 19th, I made a stopped at the Flight 93 National Memorial on my way home from Johnstown and it was an amazing experience. Even though there weren't any buildings or visitors' centers, the items left there in memory said enough. There was a wall with thousands of shirts, buttons, hats, signs, stickers, and more than anyone could imagine. There were also guardrails with stickers all over them around the stone memorials of all of the fallen US citizens, firefighters, police officers, and soldiers.

Meeting the Director at the National Cemetary

Yesterday June 5th I was privileged to meet the National Director of the National Park Service Mary Bomar. She gave the Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg National Cemetary. The ceremony was very moving. She was reading words that had been read in the same area many years ago. It sent chills down your spine. After her speech I got to talk to her personally. She is a very down to earth lady. I spoke to her about our State Service Project and what are vision of the project is. She sounded very excited. As the Director she gave me some help with ideas of where to go from here. This experience was unforgettable.  

Gettysburg National Military Park

On Monday June 2nd a diverse group of Key Club and Student Council members took a trip up to the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitors Center. The Visitors Center offers an inside view into the lives of the soldiers and civilians that were involved in the battle. The museum used very emotional videos to show the turmoil that the soldiers and community of Gettysburg endured. The museum had all sorts of interactive computers that allowed us to get a better feeling of the battle. The Gettysburg Address room stands out the most to me. It was an extremely powerful room that hit home the leadership that was needed to overcome this great Altercation. In this picture it really shows the concept of the power of one (right). 

 After we finished at the visitors center we took the whole group and went to Ruby Tuesdays. Once everyone had ordered their food we had the each person reflect on his or her experience at the visitors center and their reaction. Kyle Barnhart ,a junior in Student Council, said, " It was a breathtaking experience learning what our forefathers had to go through to get everybody equality. It really opened my eyes to the different types of leadership and our theme it begins with you, really hit home. I realized that everybody is just ordinary until they take charge and then they become a leader." This experience changed the lives of the eighteen individuals that went.