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<\/a>From left, Wright State students Kyle Turner, Nellie Peshian and Kelly Mutterspaw, and Tim Ferrell, Monday Creek water quality specialist for Rural Action, take water samples during a community service project connected to an interdisciplinary sustainability course in the Honors Program. (Video by Kris Sproles\/Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n
In its eighth year, the course examines economic, social and environmental issues facing residents of Appalachia. The course culminates with a week of community service in southeast Ohio, with projects ranging from environmental remediation such as cleaning up dumps and collecting discarded tires to planting community gardens.<\/p>\n
The course was initially designed by Sarah Twill, professor and chair of Social Work<\/a>, and Hunt Brown, senior lecturer emeritus in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences<\/a> and special assistant in the Office of the President.<\/p>\n \u201cThey get out of this a much greater understanding of the complexity of issues that they may have taken lightly before,\u201d Brown said of the students, who this year are majoring in psychology, social work, nursing and various engineering disciplines. \u201cThere is a greater understanding of poverty, the reasons for poverty and the way social, economic and environmental factors all interrelate.\u201d<\/p>\n At the MCRP office on this day, May 3, the students prepare to leave for Monday Creek, a 27-mile stream that flows from Perry County into the Hocking River in Athens County. Green fishing nets with long aluminum handles clatter as they are collected and dropped into the back of a white pickup truck along with boots, a stainless steel pail and metal measuring stick.<\/p>\n The truck and a caravan of other vehicles weave their way along a twisting, two-lane highway that goes from blacktop to dirt and gravel, sending up clouds of dust as they make their way to Monkey Hollow. Once there, the students check out a doser \u2013 a silo-like structure that feeds crushed limestone into Monday Creek to reduce the acidity. They then take water samples and measurements.<\/p>\n There are more than 21,000 acres of abandoned coal mines in the Monday Creek Watershed. Water that comes out of the mines contains sulfuric acid, iron and aluminum, a combination that can kill fish, bugs and other aquatic life.<\/p>\n Maureen Barry, First Year Experience librarian, sorts books at the Athens County Public Library.<\/p><\/div>\n In 1994, only four species of fish were still living in Monday Creek. But thanks to government funding and programs, 16 water treatment systems have been installed along the creek since 1994 to neutralize the acidity, making the water more livable to aquatic life. Today, there are 36 species of fish in the creek.<\/p>\n Mutterspaw, of Xenia, graduated in April with her bachelor\u2019s degree in biomedical engineering and is preparing to begin studies for her medical degree at the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom today\u2019s experience I\u2019ve gotten a better understanding of what impacts people can have on the environment,\u201d she said. \u201cCoal mining in the 1800s is still affecting today\u2019s creeks.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to watershed reclamation, Rural Action is involved in environmental education, zero waste\/recycling, sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a membership-based organization with very limited capacity, volunteers are a major part of what we do,\u201d said Schlater. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to gain support for this work by introducing folks to this. We have literally seen people change their career paths after spending a summer with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown believes the community service projects not only offer educational eye-opening experiences for the students, but also teach them community engagement skills that can lead to community activism and service later in life.<\/p>\n Mutterspaw hoped she could help the residents in some small way during her week of service.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think I\u2019m actually getting more out of this than I\u2019m giving to other people,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m learning a lot more about the Appalachian region, the way people live and just how hospitable and welcoming these people are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to learn to be a better giver, to understand what\u2019s going on around me,\u201d added Turner, a materials engineering student from Jackson, Ohio.<\/p>\n In nearby Athens, at the Athens County Public Library, Wright State students were helping label the library\u2019s fiction collection by genre so it is easier for the patrons to find the books for which they are looking. A couple of local volunteers were also helping in order to accumulate points redeemable for food, appliances and even cars at Good Works, Inc., a local poverty fighting organization.<\/p>\n From left, Hunt Brown, senior lecturer emeritus in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Wright State students Sarah Downing and Sean Tomlin work at a community garden in Athens.<\/p><\/div>\n Maureen Barry, First-Year Experience librarian<\/a> at Wright State, is an important part of the Honors course, providing a unique perspective on literacy issues. She said libraries are crucial in Appalachia because they not only supply books, but also narrow the digital divide by providing computer access and teaching residents how to search the internet and fill out applications online for jobs and social services.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the one place where all people are welcome,\u201d Barry said. \u201cPeople are so relational in this community. They really need a personal connection to feel comfortable in places, so I think the library staff plays a very important role.\u201d<\/p>\n Barry said the Wright State students are seeing their coursework come to life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can talk all we want about this stuff in the classroom,\u201d she said, \u201cbut until you actually experience it and build relationships with people here in the community, it isn\u2019t as impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n Across town, Sarah Downing, a nursing major from Vandalia, and Sean Tomlin, an industrial and systems engineering major from Lewisburg, help plant a community vegetable garden on a hill next to an apartment complex in conjunction with Community Food Initiatives, another nonprofit seeking to ensure healthy local foods to area residents. The carrots, radishes and other produce will be donated to food pantries and schools.<\/p>\n Music professor Christopher Chaffee, making his debut with the course this year and offering an additional perspective to the course, was spreading mulch and otherwise getting his hands dirty as part of the effort.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked a lot in the class about resources available to help people,\u201d said Chaffee. \u201cThis puts it in real sharp focus. What we did today is just an extension of the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Through an interdisciplinary sustainability course in Wright State\u2019s Honors Program, students spent a week performing community service in southeast Ohio. Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2017\/06\/good-works-18984_220-241x300.jpg\")
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