This Saturday, OTC STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Scholars will step out of the classroom and into the community for a hands-on service-learning project that will benefit both the community and the environment.
Earlier this summer, the campus organization adopted a portion of Jordan Creek, from Chestnut Expressway to Silver Springs Park through the Adopt-a-Stream program, and have been making plans to clean up the area.
“This is a good opportunity for our STEM Scholars to give back to the community while witnessing first-hand how the topics discussed in class are applied in the outside world,” said Dana Sherman, biological sciences instructor.
This will be the team’s first clean-up work at the creek, but certainly not the last. The Adopt-A-Stream requirements include conducting cleanup of the area at least three times a year. The STEM Scholars plan to adopt that section of the stream every school year.
“Joran Creek is right in OTC’s backyard,” Sherman said. “We are taking on a service-learning project that directly benefits our own neighborhood and the students get the added benefit of hands-on fieldwork.”
Besides the cleanup, the team plans to participate in macroinvertebrate (insects) collecting, water chemistry testing, flow rate monitoring and stream bed mapping. All of that
For more information about the cleanup effort, you may contact Dana Sherman via email.