Never Give Up
9/15/2018
Do kids these days know what it means to work hard and persevere even when the end goal seems intangible or impossible? The PNA 8th graders certainly do, though they may not have always thought so.. Two years ago, when they were in 6th grade, they wrote a proposal for a grant from the Anchorage Parks Foundation to help them develop trails within Ruth Arcand Park. Students often used this area as an outdoor classroom, but trails and spaces were found to be challenging to access and use effectively. The then 6th graders wanted to fix this problem and the Anchorage Parks Foundation agreed, awarding them a $20,000 matching Challenge Grant to do so. To receive this grant money, students would need to match the amount in either volunteer work hours, in kind donations, or fundraising. The next school year, with the help of Elise Huggins from Earthscape Designs, the now 7th graders designed access routes, and decided on trail development. They looked at the budget and researched what they could feasibly do with the grant money that would fill a niche and be accepted by all community users. They spoke to landowners, neighborhood residents, and at community council meetings. They designed access routes, but were rejected by landowners. So they redesigned, but then they met another roadblock. They redesigned again! As their teacher, I wondered if this project and their efforts would end in failure as each of their steps forward seemed to be thwarted by bureaucracy and the constant change of landowner requirements. By the spring of last year, even the Anchorage Park Foundation and Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department were beginning to wonder if this project was going to get off the ground. If the students were ready to throw in the towel, they never voiced or showed it. Instead they pushed on. Then, PNA announced it was moving locations. Initially, this seemed like the final nail in the coffin. However, this change made us look at the project in another way. This was just the shift we needed! In the few weeks remaining in the school year we redesigned yet again, but this time, we could access the park from a public location. This last week, we just had our first whole class workday in the park. We completed the building of the balance beam section of the obstacle course, and moved and installed huge beams for the zigzag run. Students and parents smoothed out trails and spread wood chips. Parallel bars and a climbing wall are on the way and should be installed by the end of October which is also the allotted time for the completion of the work for the Challenge Grant. One benefit of all that redesign planning time last year was the amount of volunteer hours we could count toward our matching grant. Since last November, over 650 volunteer hours have been documented toward this project amounting in roughly $30,000. These hours alone meet the requirement for the matching Challenge Grant from the Anchorage Park Foundation. While there is still work to do, students are realizing the lesson of perseverance and hard work as they can finally see the fruits of their labor. The size, duration, and challenges of this project have been deeply seeded within these student. The pride and satisfaction of the resulting end product will remain with them forever reminding them to never give up. Comments are closed.
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Sarah Mariner
Ms. Mariner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from Colorado State University, and was awarded a teaching certificate through the University of Alaska, Southeast. Her varied background includes being an environmental education field instructor in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Baja, Mexico. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Archives
April 2021
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