WEF Needs You To Leave Some Green in Chicago

Register early to build a rain garden during the WEFTEC service project

 

WEFTEC 2013 volunteers will help build a rain garden at the John C. Haines Elementary School in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Tim Moran, WEF Students and Young Professionals Community Service Project chair.

WEFTEC 2013 volunteers will help build a rain garden at the John C. Haines Elementary School in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Tim Moran, WEF Students and Young Professionals Community Service Project chair.

WEFTEC® offers not only a wide range of learning opportunities, but also the ability to improve the host city’s green space. Since 2008, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC) has organized an annual WEFTEC Service Project. In that first year, volunteers constructed a rain garden in Chicago.

As WEFTEC returns to Chicago this year, SYPC invites attendees to make another long-lasting impression on the city by constructing a rain garden at a school.

The WEFTEC 2013 Service Project, “Reading, Writing, and Rain Gardens,” will replace approximately 74 m2 (800 ft2) of impervious surface at John C. Haines Elementary School with a rain garden.

SYPC also will compile and provide educational resources to the school’s principal, who is planning to have teachers convert the information into a lesson plan for students. This will help involve the school in the project and obtain their commitment to maintaining the rain garden, explained Timothy Moran, SYPC Community Service Project chair.

“Locating the project at a school helps us increase the awareness of the value of water with impressionable young minds,” Moran said. “We hope to inspire students to the cause of clean water, underscore the importance of the water profession, and demonstrate to the community how to get started on clean water initiatives.”

The service project, “Reading, Writing, and Rain Gardens,” will replace impervious surface at the school with a rain garden to address urban stormwater.

The service project, “Reading, Writing, and Rain Gardens,” will replace impervious surface at the school with a rain garden to address urban stormwater.

To help address urban stormwater in Chicago, volunteers will assist in removing a concrete layer subsurface; lay topsoil; plant grasses, perennial plants, and trees; lay a walking path through the garden; and add fencing to the outside edge of the garden, Moran said.

“This project should have a significant impact on stormwater,” said Haley Falconer, vice chair of SYPC. “It’s the first project where we are removing pavement and replacing it with permeable surface [rain garden]. Additionally, being right at a school provides a significant opportunity to further WEF’s strategic direction of increasing awareness of the value of water.”

ting The series of WEFTEC Service Projects began in 2008 with the GetOut of the Gutter project. Volunteers built a rain garden at Pulaski Park in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Haley Falconer, vice chair of SYPC. By 2010, the rain garden built at Pulaski Park had developed into a fully functioning green space. Photo courtesy of Falconer.
The series of WEFTEC Service Projects began in 2008 with the Getting Out of the Gutter project. Volunteers built a rain garden at Pulaski Park in Chicago. Left, volunteers pose by the newly planted garden. Right, the garden has developed into a fully functioning green space by 2010. Photos courtesy of Haley Falconer, vice chair of SYPC.

SYPC is working with Chicago Public Schools, Chicago’s Department of Water Management, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology (Chicago) to organize the project. SYPC will reach out to the students and their families, teachers, and surrounding community to invite them to participate.

“We hope to have students, teachers, and the local community onsite during and after the project to talk with them about the project and how it fits into the larger issues of water quality and environmental stewardship,” Moran said.

SYPC expects between 75 and 100 volunteers to participate; volunteers will receive shuttle transportation to and from the event, lunch, and a project T-shirt. Those planning to attend WEFTEC 2013 can choose to participate in the annual WEFTEC Service Project when registering for the conference. Those already registered for WEFTEC still can sign up for the service project by adding the event to their schedule online. For more details, contact WEF staff member Dianne Crilley at dcrilley@wef.org.

 — Jennifer Fulcher, WEF Highlights

SYPC Hosts Series of WEFTEC Service Opportunities

The 2013 project will be the sixth in a series of service projects. Read more about previous projects in past issues of Highlights:

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