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.