The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Discovery students cited for stewardhsip
Not many schools can brag that they have part of a river running through it, but at Discovery High School, that’s an unusual feature students and staff can claim. A portion of the Yellow River crosses the Lawrenceville property, providing not just a singular outdoor classroom. It also brings with it some responsibility that the school’s Environmental Club takes on.
About once a month, the approximately 100 club members take on the job of pulling water samples to test and monitor for quality, and they log their findings online. This year, they’ve also had three cleanups, hauling trash and litter out of the waterway and its surroundings, and sorting the debris into recyclable piles. And they’re doing it on their own time, over the weekends and after school hours.
Gwinnett Clean and Beauti- ful gave them a $200 service award. Also, Rivers Alive, a state-sponsored initiative to promote cleaner waterways, honored Discovery for its spring cleanup that racked up 73 volunteer hours, 23 bags of trash and 685 pounds of debris.
“I think we were noticed because we’re not just cleaning, we’re monitoring,” said Tabitha Brodnax, a science teacher who has sponsored the club since it began when the school opened three years ago. “At the same time, our students are learning about our carbon footprint, what we can recycle and why.”
Those sorts of lessons aren’t quite as easily taught from a classroom or text- book, which is another reason the club is a key part of the school, said Brodnax.
“Every kid in Georgia has to take biology, and one section is ecology, all about the environment and biosystems,” she said. “We offer environmental science here, so anyone who takes that will see these concepts in action in what we do. Being part of the club and seeing the impact we can make have even inspired a lot of them to take AP environmental science.”
Along with service proj- ects, the club hosts speakers and takes field trips. “They’ve looked at all kinds of issues with pollution, pop- ulation and water quality that they learned through our club,” said Brodnax. “And most of them are putting in between 15 to 20 hours a semester doing it.”
For club member Oscar Prada, the club offered as many opportunities for fun as it did for making a difference.
“I had friends who told me about the different activities they do on the weekends and how they help out,” said the Lawrenceville junior. “I thought that sounded interesting. And the river cleanup was fun. I’ve also volunteered to do one at Lake Lanier. I’ve really enjoyed traveling around and seeing different places while helping the environment at the same time.”
Brodnax agrees that it is fun.
“We plant things, we clean things, we get out in nature,” she said. “These kids are very passionate, and this is a good way to inspire them to be stewards of the earth.”