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On October 30th, Lancaster Mennonite Middle School and High School students were joined by
foresters Marlin Graham (Riparian Forest Buffer Technician, PA Bureau of Forestry), Ryan
Davis (Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay) and Jason Swartz of the Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources (DCNR) to plant 350 native trees along the banks of the Mill Stream,
which runs through Lancaster Mennonite’s 95-acre campus.
Together they planted around 30 different native species, including Tulip Poplar, Sweet Gum,
Swamp White Oak, River Birch, Eadtern Red Cedar, Eastern Hemlock, Sycamore, Silver Maple,
Red Maple and Northern Red Oak.
The project, led by LM Senior and Green Team president, Frances Hurst Brubaker is a part of a
larger goal of reforesting natural areas of Pennsylvania and creating healthy stream habitat for
fish and other wildlife. Last year, the middle school also worked with The Alliance for the
Chesapeake Bay to plant 30 trees. Brubaker initiated a new partnership with DCNR for this
year.
“One would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful educational environment than along the
Mill Stream which runs through our campus. It is our desire to teach stewardship of all that God
has entrusted to us, and this includes this natural environment. In addition to the organizations
helping in this planting, we have been blessed in the past to have organizations such as the Mill
Stream Preservation Association and the Lancaster County Conservation District which have
worked on the Mill Stream and have helped our students understand the value of our healthy
stream and a forested riparian buffer.” – Elvin Kennel, Lancaster Campus Principal, Lancaster
Mennonite.
Future goals for the LM High School Green Team include fundraising events for charities that
prioritize environmental sustainability and also help people. Larger future goals include working
towards pollinator promoting projects on campus, as well as helping boost our recycling and
composting program.
LM Middle School will continue to do environmental care around the campus with planting
flowers, rehabilitation, developing a pollinator garden and water catchment basin next to stream,
focusing on a total land area renovation for their fourth quarter projects in 2020.
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Prepared by Carrie King – Creative Director at Lancaster Mennonite School
