Horticulture to the Rescue
by Mike Bernier, Silver Lake senior

 

Early in September, the Silver Lake Horticulture students were outside cleaning up the cross country trail during what seemed like just another day. While walking along the trail, the students discovered plastic erosion netting blown about the course; a storm had upset the netting and now it was caught in various trees around the area.  As the students assessed the damage, they determined the netting had originally been in place to limit erosion around the newly-seeded baseball fields.  However, as they continued to survey the damage, the group realized a Northern Flicker bird was caught in the netting, trapped in a tree 20 feet high. The bird was struggling for freedom; its life was at stake, entangled in the orange plastic.

            Courageous Silver Lake juniors Chris Rheinhold and Matt Glynn decided to climb an adjacent tree in order to free the bird. Under the supervision of Horticulture teacher Mrs. Fornari, Chris climbed 15 feet up the tree, while Matt worked to secure the netting. Carefully implementing skills learned last year in Conservation Horticulture, these students cautiously worked as a team.
Once Chris safely reached the top of his tree, he used an extended pole to reach the bird. Chris released the netting from the tree and slowly untangled the bird. Chris and Matt then lowered the bird to safety and examined the creature for any physical distress. Fortunately, the bird did not need any assistance and it successfully flew off into the afternoon sky.  Mrs. Fornari was impressed with her students’ skill retention and praises their compassion and bravery.

Now dubbed official Laker Legends, Chris and Matt will continue working on their Conservation Horticulture Skills.  Perhaps they will persist with their green efforts, and work to limit the negative impact of human lifestyle on the delicate environment.