Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Beargrass Creek was in peril. Having suffered from decades of abuse by ignorant Louisvillians, who were unknowingly polluting one of our city's main waterways, the massive creek had become extremely polluted. Fecal coliforms levels were through the roof, making the water unsafe to touch with bare skin for extended amounts of time. Beer bottles, old tires, plastic sacks and assorted other bits and chunks of pollution were scattered through the tri-forked Creek.
One Mrs. Page, an Advanced Placement Environmental Science (or APES, for short) teacher decided to take action. After contacting local water protection authorities, her APES classes at Louisville Male High School took on a Beargrass Creek Restoration Project. This ongoing mission is to cleanup and restore a small section of the polluted Beargrass Creek, specifically located at the corner of Lexington Road and Grinstead Avenue in Louisville's historic and renowned Highlands area. The project is in its third consecutive year. As this class project occurs throughout the senior year of APES students, each class performs various tasks for nine months on their plot of project land. Combining Louisville Male High School APES students, Metropolitan Sewer District, and Jefferson County Parks resulted in an explosion of interest in restoration. Our various duties at our site included identifying and removing invasive plant species, performing water and soil respiration and mineral content tests, writing and designing proposals for native plant reintroduction, presenting these proposal to a council of city leaders for restoration of the area, planting the chosen species, and subsequent maintenance on the area.
For our efforts, we have been rewarded with the first ever "Steering The Future of Beargrass Creek" Award by Louisville's mayor. But our project didn't stop there. In fact, the picture presented here represents another facet of our work on Beargrass Creek. (I'm the one pictured in the middle.) Metropolitan Sewer District and Living Lands and Waters held an "Xstream Cleanup" recently. Several Louisville Male High APES showed up and planted native species in a recovering wetland area of Beargrass Creek. Even though, as seniors, our classes are done and grades are in, we showed up.
Beargrass Creek became embedded in all of us, in some shape or form. Personally, I've spent a number of hours there, digging and planting, testing and wading. Our efforts this year were rewarded with a ceremony with the mayor. While that's rather nifty and notable, that's not really what matters here. Our city polluted this creek past the point of use by either animal or human. And that's an issue. We stood up. We did something. And that is what matters.