This spring the Community School in Kirkland has been working with Nature Vision, a non-profit environmental education organization that serves over 65,000 students each year, through a sponsorship from the Cascade Water Alliance and Kirkland Public Works. Every Community School student participated in a stewardship team or “Blue Team” to learn about various water conservation topics and carry out a culminating local project.

The Community School students carried out their stewardship project at Everest Park, where its 21.5 acres are bordered by forests and the Everest creek. Students gathered at the trail head and enthusiastically removed invasive English Ivy creeping along the edge of trail, and over surrounding plants and trees. They cleared masses of the invasive species from along the trail, allowing beneficial native plants the chance to thrive.

Returning students also had the chance to view the progress of their stewardship project from the previous spring where they removed another invasive species, Himalayan Blackberry. The area they worked on last year is free of blackberry brambles and has now been restored with young native plants by the Green Kirkland Partnership.

Nature Vision’s Blue Team program was developed to educate local youth about water resources and related ecosystems, foster sustainable stewardship values and practices in the community through hands-on youth projects, and to empower youth to take positive steps to improve their local environment.

To learn more about Nature Vision programs, visit www.naturevision.org or contact Executive Director Ginny Ballard at 425-836- 2697 or gsanchez@naturevision.org.