Rowland Hall has joined the Big Bend Restoration Project.

“It helped the turtles because it let them have a place to hide and eat food. It felt really good because we helped the earth a lot,” said Everett, a Rowland Hall kindergartner who helped plant wetland plants and pollinator gardens with his class and fifth grade buddies this spring.

The Big Bend at the Jordan River, between 8400 and 8800 S, is slowly being brought back to life.

The Sharon Steel milling operation was once next to the Big Bend site. The land was contaminated with heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and zinc. Now, the contamination area is secured with three feet of clay and rock to prevent the metals from seeping into the restoration area. But the area was so damaged that plants and animals were driven away and it will take decades to restore the natural plants and habitats.

The City of West Jordan has helped maintain the area by pulling weeds and maintaining the space, and grants have allowed a revitalization of the area. The goal is to return to what it once was: a grassland haven for migrating birds and wildlife. During summer when bugs are plentiful, a robust bird population can help by eating 5-10% of them, easing the pest problem.

That’s where Rowland Hall comes in.  The school sent 40 students to the Big Bend site to continue the transformation.

“The water cycle in Utah is really interesting to study. We do that from elementary all the way through high school, it just gets more sophisticated. We really want students to understand their place, the importance of water and just the importance of conservation and stewardship work,” said Ryan Hoglund, Rowland Hall Director of Community Engagement and Impact.

The students took it to heart and felt it firsthand. Sadie, a fifth grader, said, “This experience was different from other work we have done; it was physical and hot, but it was cool to dig the holes and plant the grass. This was fun and something I would do again to help my community.”

Rowland Hall pairs the kindergartners with fifth graders as mentors and mentees, and they hope to get the kids back again in a few months.

”Our hope is to come back two or three times during the year and that students can work on things,” Hoglund said. They will be able to see how their hard work makes a difference.

“A major benefit of this work for the children was seeing the immediate change that their work created for the river bank,”  said Bethany Stephensen, Rowland Hall Lead Kindergarten Teacher. “They could see and feel that their work mattered.”

By Erin Dixon