The students at Vienna Elementary School are cleaning things up right where they live – or where they learn, to be more precise. The members of the Just Say No club not only learned about the importance of wetlands habitat, but they restored a wetlands meadow that had been filled in when their school was constructed back in 1957.

Students worked with the Dorchester County Soil Conservation Office to develop their plan to restore the meadow. Wetlands construction workers came to the schoolyard and hauled away five loads of soil that had been used for fill. They explained to the children about siting, topography, mapping, and surveying. After the wetlands were constructed, students worked in cooperative groups to plant native species of wetlands plants and grasses. They planted 600 plants! As the wetlands began filling with water, the students planted wildflower seeds around the border.

The Vienna Elementary School students recently received notice that their newly created wetlands habitat has been designated as an “Official Schoolyard Habitat,” as deemed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Federation.

Captain Planet Foundation sends off a hearty congratulations to the hard workers at the Vienna Elementary School.