When the City Charter High
School students first went to their adopted lot on Charles
Street in Pittsburgh, it seemed that there was no hope for the
space. The debris ranged from cars to
couches and tires to children’s toys. But all those
behind the project did not get discouraged.
In science classes at the high school, students
were asked to fill out a form telling
what
they would like to do with the vacant lot and were told
it was all their choice. Once a plan of action was achieved,
100 students set out in two shifts on May 28th to execute the
plan. After a seeming long day, when it all was said and done
the group had cleaned up two tons of garbage
and twenty tires. But, the youth didn’t stop there.
There have been at least five follow-up visits by smaller groups
of the students.
So
far, their continuing efforts have produced a mulch
trail lined with bricks and beautiful tree saplings,
the removal of a great amount of invasive species, and a
sign claiming the adoption with a raised flowerbed planted below
it. The students themselves were the muscle behind the
effort, but none of it would have been made possible without
the help and support of:
PA CleanWays
(www.pacleanways.org)
and
The Pittsburgh Project
(www.pittsburghproject.org)
