Students from Oak Lawn delve into nature
Oak Lawn Community High School students take volunteering trip to Indiana Dunes National Park
Primed to fulfill their 24 hours of service requirements, seven Oak Lawn Community High School students got so much more as they farmed and took in nature at Indiana Dunes National Park.
“Some kids walked on sand for the first time … and touched Lake Michigan,” said Michael Bielski, the school’s science department chair, who led the trip. “They were skipping stones for half an hour because they had never skipped stones.”
But before they got to the lake, the students headed to Chellberg Farm, a historic farm modeled on those of the 1890s era Swedish settlers in northwest Indiana, according to James Whitenack, park ranger and volunteer program manager, who talked to the students about the park and related careers. There they strung out plot lines and rows for a garden, tilled the soil, dug holes and planted tomatoes, spinach, beets, cucumbers, beans and flowering plants.
Then they went to West Beach to gather trash and skip stones in Lake Michigan.
“On the trip, I learned that there is a lot more to the dunes than I knew about,” said Seamus Heneghan, a junior, who enjoyed the trip so much he plans to help out on similar excursions next school year. “We were on a farm planting vegetables and flowers with cows and chickens.
“I wouldn’t have imagined they had all that up there,” Heneghan said.
Though volunteers typically work the farm from 9 a.m. to noon, the students enjoyed it so much, they stayed an extra hour.
“The Park Service was really surprised and excited by that,” said Bielski, who organized the trip partly because he loves National Parks, having worked at Yellowstone National Park earlier in his career.
Bielski said the trip was also a chance for the students to delve into nature.
“Science revolves around experiences ... getting out in the world, or experiencing life, and nothing is better than that,” said Bielski. “Students get a chance to be real and they see other people who are real.”
Bielski also said he wanted to instill in students the importance of volunteering and giving back. The National Park Service has a busy Drop-in Volunteering Program, which also includes removing invasive species, land and building restoration and preparing for special events.
“I was happy to see students interested in getting their hands dirty and their eagerness to learn about what resources the park has to offer them,” said Whitenack, who added in high school he had an environmental science teacher just like Bielski, who encouraged volunteer work at national and state parks. “Without volunteers the park would not have the man power to take care of the animals, garden, and the farm fields.
“This stewardship provides park visitors a true farm experience,” said Whitenack.