Global Youth Service Day Project: River Bank Restoration Project
A dozen students from New School for Community Service, with assistance from Bill Nimke and Tanya Bueter of the River Revitalization Foundation, participated in a Global Youth Service Day project to conserve and restore the Greenway Gateway on the Milwaukee River. The students learned about conservation management while installing a native plant garden. They removed invasive plant species and then planted native species, including fruit-bearing plants such as raspberry bushes and apple trees. A total of 100 trees were planted by students.
The day was also used to launch a 12-foot row boat the New School students had built last fall as well as two row boats built by Gaenslen Elementary School students over the winter. A Sweet Water Mini-Grant allowed for 23 8th grade students from Gaenslen Elementary School to visit the Global Youth Service Day site, learn about the New School students’ service and its importance, and participate in the boat launching ceremony. These boat-building projects were meant to teach about the local rivers, water quality, and the recreational opportunities that become available with better conservation and stewardship of our natural resources. The boat launching ceremony was a great way to recognize and celebrate the hard work these students put into building the boats.
The River Revitalization Foundation sponsors several conservation and restoration projects, including the Greenway Gateway project. This is an extensive, long-term effort to improve water quality and green space around Milwaukee’s rivers. The New School students’ volunteer work on Global Youth Service Day was a valuable contribution to this project that will have a lasting effect on the neighboring communities through increased public access to Milwaukee’s natural resources as well as improved protection and restoration of the river bank and the habitats it houses. Additionally, these students, through their volunteer work, were able to create a personal link to the park. They will be able to return to the park and take pride in knowing that they were a part of improving the river bank and the neighborhood.
JSOnline featured a photo gallery of the day’s events which can be found here.