Ozarka Geography Students Plant Trees
In an effort to help the environment, several students in Courtney Kurpiel’s geography class planned and implemented a service learning project to plant trees, replacing ones lost during the destructive weather events that have taken a toll on Mountain View and surrounding areas over the last couple of years.
Kurpiel, who has been teaching three years as an adjunct instructor for Ozarka College – Mountain View says the students she has had “never cease to amaze me!” She adds, “Some of the students I have encountered go through incredible hardships, yet persevere to get a higher education and improve their lives. These extraordinary students go even further by looking beyond themselves to give back to their community and environment.”
One of the themes of the geography class is the physical environment and how it is often damaged by human actions and natural events. While discussing deforestation in class, one student brought up the fact that recent weather events had destroyed several trees and wanted to plant some new trees around the Ozarka Mountain View location. The rest of the class got on board to participate.
After getting the approval from site coordinator, Gin Brown and Ozarka’s landscape supervisor Dave Rush, who helped plan the location and dug holes for the new trees; the students were able to give back to their community and the environment. The State Forestry Commission generously donated the trees for this student driven project.
