Students complete trail work at TMHS

Students and staff present their final project after completing trail work as part of the district’s service learning summer program. (Rosalyn Impink photo)

Grab your water bottle and bug spray, because Tewksbury has a new and improved trail to explore. Middle and high school students attending the Tewks­bury Public Schools credit recovery program were able to participate in a ser­vice learning project conducting maintenance on a trail at TMHS behind the baseball field.

As part of the state De­partment of Elementary and Secondary Education’s High Quality Service Lear­ning grant, students completed the project in four days under the leadership of TMHS teacher Marc Demers and other faculty.

Students worked to pour crushed gravel at the trail entrance, conducted re­search on the benefits of outdoor recreation, and posted new permanent trail markers, replacing temporary ribbons. They worked with Paul Decker of the district’s maintenance staff to identify trees, and laser-cut new wooden stake signs with scannable QR codes to educate the public on flora and fauna.

“I’m really proud of them,” said TMHS assistant principal Michelle Dick. “They put a lot of ef­fort into it. The students in this district always answer the bell.”

Members of the public were invited on July 28 to attend a celebration of the students’ work, during which they presented their project and practiced public speaking skills. The program was attended by assistant superintendent Lori McDermott, school committee chair Bridget Garabedian, and district grants coordinator Cindy Bastieri. Credit recovery faculty included Demers, Shelli-An Ryan, Bryan Des­jardins, Kellyn Welch, Ni­na Caruso, Kathryn Clark, Michael Gillespie, and Kathy Aylward. The trail is expected to be named for TMHS science teacher Janet Gordon who monitors plants with local universities and weedwacks to maintain the trail.

“It’s so beneficial to get students outside and continue learning outside,” said McDermott.

“This was a tremendous effort by the students,” added Garabedian. “They used all hand tools and their own labor to execute the project. It looks great, and it’s going to be here for years to come.” Plans for the project were drafted by Bruce Shick of the town’s Open Space and Recrea­tion Plan Commit­tee.

Previous projects have included work with Strong­water Farm, navigation signs for international students, and an accessible raised bed garden behind the high school. As part of the grant, projects are tied to curriculum and involve a community partner for whom students problem solve and execute solutions. For the trail project, students conducted data ana­lysis on a recent middle school health survey with the town’s substance abuse prevention coordinator Ma­ria Ruggiero.

Demers reflected on the celebratory nature of the presentation. “They don’t do the work in a vacuum,” he said. “We want to get positive reinforcement from the community.”

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