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{No Headline} *MOP/NEWS/Kendra Field ... trail WEDNESDAY 4/3 Judith Spitzer April 03, 2002 One day at a time, Colton trail becoming a reality By Judith Spitzer of the Molalla Pioneer Flags mark the spots along the creek below Colton Middle School where, hopefully, there will be native vegetation emerging soon -- planted last year and nurtured by warm spring weather. "And, some of the flags here show us the high water marks," said Kendra Field whose science students have been busy clearing weeds and blackberry bushes with "loppers." "Yes, they are allowed to have sharp objects," Fields joked. The science class is continuing the work started by Kevin Stansfield, another CMS science teacher, and other community members who envision a nature trail stretching from the grade school on Greys Hill Road to the middle school, through Camp Colton -- and ending at Colton High School on Wall Street. "One of the high school kids is building a bridge for his CAM (Certificate of Advanced Mastery) project," Field said, adding that still another student will also be building what will eventually become an outdoor classroom adjacent to the sports fields at CMS. "(Kevin) Stansfield would like the kids to eventually be able to ride bikes on the trail." But for now, the goal is to rid the path of invasive plants, plant native trees and shrubs, and basically restore the stream. And, of course, learn things in the process. "We're trying to get these trees moved into the shade out of the bog," Field explained to several students. "We're planting native plants like red alder, ponderosa pine, lodge fir, and cottonwoods, lots of shrubs. Those are all fast-growing," she said. Hands-on learning Because some of students at the middle school level learn better with hands-on types of learning, Field said working on the trail is a perfect match. "Some kids do much better with (this type of) learning than learning by memorization," she said. "They learn how to communicate. They learn team work. And, I'm trying to teach them as much as I can about how the stream works and what kinds of animals are here ... crawdads, microinvertebrates. We're trying to build it up with more kinds of bugs -- to make it healthier." Although the terrain is somewhat like a maze with overgrown bushes, the students haven't run into any harm or had any serious injuries. "Just scrapes and cuts ... no major injuries," she said. Stansfield had help from the community last year, in planting more than 1,000 trees at the site. And other community members have contributed to the cause. "We've had lots of cooperation from Camp Colton. They've loaned us lots of equipment, and employees have offered parts of the property for the trail to go to the high school," Field said. Molalla RiverWatch, Inc., several teachers and some students have also helped with the project. Candice Smith, a Colton High School senior, will be completing a pole barn in the coming weeks as her CAM project. "They're going to start construction pretty soon," Field said. A grant will help fund the building of the outdoor classroom which will also serve the school as a kind of a covered picnic area. "It will be right by the sports field so parents can use it during the games and we can use it to teach from without getting too wet," she said smiling. A real life classroom The school sees the trail as an opportunity for an outdoor laboratory for teachers, serving as a place to conduct class science experiments in various ecosystems and habitats. "My history is in environmental science and I thought it was a good opportunity to use that in my science classes. I thought the trail would be a perfect teaching tool for science concepts adding real life to my lessons." For example, Field and her students also released about 1,000 salmon raised in the classroom, into the stream. "It's a great opportunity for the kids to learn about what salmon need to survive; what makes a good rearing habitat and a bad one," she said. "I don't know whether they'll return but if they do, it will take about four years. We got the eggs in December and released them in February. "Right now we're working on getting rid of the blackberries. They're huge and it takes forever. It's great for this age, though," she said with a grin. "They can take out their aggression on the blackberries." Later in the spring they will continue to maintain and build the trail Field said. "We'd like to see the area become a nature park with walking trails and interpretive signs for the public to use," she said. Neither the stream nor the trail have an official name yet. "It's just a small stream that runs through the middle school grounds," Field said, adding that a nearby pond will be another destination of the trail. The students walk the one-mile to the trail every day to work on the project. And the hours add up. One day at a time.

{No Headline}

*MOP/NEWS/Kendra Field ... trail WEDNESDAY 4/3

Judith Spitzer

April 03, 2002

One day at a time, Colton trail becoming a reality

By Judith Spitzer

of the Molalla Pioneer

Flags mark the spots along the creek below Colton Middle School where, hopefully, there will be native vegetation emerging soon -- planted last year and nurtured by warm spring weather.

"And, some of the flags here show us the high water marks," said Kendra Field whose science students have been busy clearing weeds and blackberry bushes with "loppers." "Yes, they are allowed to have sharp objects," Fields joked.

The science class is continuing the work started by Kevin Stansfield, another CMS science teacher, and other community members who envision a nature trail stretching from the grade school on Greys Hill Road to the middle school, through Camp Colton -- and ending at Colton High School on Wall Street.

"One of the high school kids is building a bridge for his CAM (Certificate of Advanced Mastery) project," Field said, adding that still another student will also be building what will eventually become an outdoor classroom adjacent to the sports fields at CMS. "(Kevin) Stansfield would like the kids to eventually be able to ride bikes on the trail."

But for now, the goal is to rid the path of invasive plants, plant native trees and shrubs, and basically restore the stream. And, of course, learn things in the process.

"We're trying to get these trees moved into the shade out of the bog," Field explained to several students. "We're planting native plants like red alder, ponderosa pine, lodge fir, and cottonwoods, lots of shrubs. Those are all fast-growing," she said.

Hands-on learning

Because some of students at the middle school level learn better with hands-on types of learning, Field said working on the trail is a perfect match.

"Some kids do much better with (this type of) learning than learning by memorization," she said. "They learn how to communicate. They learn team work. And, I'm trying to teach them as much as I can about how the stream works and what kinds of animals are here ... crawdads, microinvertebrates. We're trying to build it up with more kinds of bugs -- to make it healthier."

Although the terrain is somewhat like a maze with overgrown bushes, the students haven't run into any harm or had any serious injuries.

"Just scrapes and cuts ... no major injuries," she said.

Stansfield had help from the community last year, in planting more than 1,000 trees at the site.

And other community members have contributed to the cause.

"We've had lots of cooperation from Camp Colton. They've loaned us lots of equipment, and employees have offered parts of the property for the trail to go to the high school," Field said.

Molalla RiverWatch, Inc., several teachers and some students have also helped with the project.

Candice Smith, a Colton High School senior, will be completing a pole barn in the coming weeks as her CAM project. "They're going to start construction pretty soon," Field said.

A grant will help fund the building of the outdoor classroom which will also serve the school as a kind of a covered picnic area. "It will be right by the sports field so parents can use it during the games and we can use it to teach from without getting too wet," she said smiling.

A real life classroom

The school sees the trail as an opportunity for an outdoor laboratory for teachers, serving as a place to conduct class science experiments in various ecosystems and habitats.

"My history is in environmental science and I thought it was a good opportunity to use that in my science classes. I thought the trail would be a perfect teaching tool for science concepts adding real life to my lessons."

For example, Field and her students also released about 1,000 salmon raised in the classroom, into the stream.

"It's a great opportunity for the kids to learn about what salmon need to survive; what makes a good rearing habitat and a bad one," she said. "I don't know whether they'll return but if they do, it will take about four years. We got the eggs in December and released them in February.

"Right now we're working on getting rid of the blackberries. They're huge and it takes forever. It's great for this age, though," she said with a grin. "They can take out their aggression on the blackberries."

Later in the spring they will continue to maintain and build the trail Field said.

"We'd like to see the area become a nature park with walking trails and interpretive signs for the public to use," she said.

Neither the stream nor the trail have an official name yet. "It's just a small stream that runs through the middle school grounds," Field said, adding that a nearby pond will be another destination of the trail. The students walk the one-mile to the trail every day to work on the project. And the hours add up. One day at a time.