December 01, 2009
The Bunnies are going greener, thanks to a collaborative project that’s putting stormwater management center stage in classrooms across Benson High School.
Living Green: the Benson High School Raingarden Initiative involves planning, designing, installing, maintaining and promoting a new rain garden on the grounds of the school. The effort is a partnership between the City of Omaha, Omaha by Design, Benson High School (BHS), the Benson-Ames Alliance and Community ReDesigned.
A rain garden, an example of a stormwater management best practice, is a planted depression that allows runoff from impervious surfaces to soak into the ground instead of flowing into storm drains and surface waters where it contributes to erosion, water pollution and flooding. These gardens, which use native plants, can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching local creeks by up to 30 percent.
At the beginning of the fall semester, representatives from the partnership met with BHS faculty to determine their individual interests in participating in the project. The response, said BHS magnet coordinator Peggy Pavlik, was positive, running the gamut from math, earth science and chemistry instructors to those who teach computer aided drafting and marketing.
Students then began work on the initiative by selecting a project name – Living Green, deciding on a project logo and selecting a site for the garden after participation in a field survey. The garden will be located on the school’s southern edge near the old entrance.
During the next six months, BHS students will:
- Design the layout of the garden
- Research and select appropriate plants
- Produce a conceptual design and layout
- Help facilitate the construction bidding process
- Review the construction contracts
- Oversee construction of the garden
- Promote the garden to the general public
Once the project is completed, the site will serve as an outdoor classroom for future Bunnies.
“Living Green is an incredible opportunity for our students to apply their classroom knowledge to a real world project in real time,” said Lisa Dale, principal of Benson High School and chair of the Benson-Ames Alliance Steering Council. “It’s allowing them to think imaginatively, work in teams, interact with professionals, manage a project and present material in front of an audience. Our students recognize that these skills are going to serve them extremely well, no matter what they do.”
Funding for Living Green is provided by a grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to the City of Omaha for stormwater management implementation.
A key component of Omaha’s stormwater management program is education and outreach to the public, said Nina Cudahy, environmental quality control manager with the city’s public works department. “We are being challenged to change the way we manage stormwater, and the city values the importance of educating a younger generation about what we can do to improve water quality in our streams,” Cudahy noted. “Benson High School’s magnet status, coupled with the Benson-Ames Alliance’s commitment to sustainability, made the school an ideal location for this education and outreach initiative.”
For more information, visit http://wearelivinggreen.com.