Ivy Tech students work to beautify park behind school

April 23, 2008 11:39 am

— Westley Harris stood on the rickety bridge behind Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg on Tuesday.
Using a crowbar, he pulled up the few remaining two-by-fours, leaving just the two logs from the base connecting the two sides of the park over a small creek.
“Someone needs to do it,” the 20-year-old student, from Jeffersonville, said.
He and a few dozen other students worked together on Earth Day to clean up the park, which included tearing down the old bridge that was damaged by repeated flooding.
“A lot of people didn’t even know this park was here,” said Pat Washington, who is the student government president. “So, one of our goals was to let them know this is here and to make them want to use it.”
To do that, student government and Phi Theta Kappa — an international honor society for two-year colleges — teamed together to organize a project to revitalize the park and invited the campus community to help out.
Washington said the park was in disrepair and needed some work, such as a new bridge and getting rid of trash that had built up. To make it more appealing, they decided to add more flowers and a wooden swing.
Students came down throughout the day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., to work on the project.
“I just wanted to help clean the park up,” said Larry Comer, of Crothersville, who helped design and build the new bridge. “It’s got potential to be a really nice area.”
“It’s already looking a lot better,” said Lisa Sheets, of Clarksville.
Crystal Edwards, who helped organize the event, said this is just the beginning. Student government and Phi Theta Kappa plan to keep working on this project by cleaning up the trails, adding sand to the volleyball court and maintaining Tuesday’s progress.
Edwards said all the sweat and hours put into this project will pay off in the end.
“Once it’s all done, it’ll be worth it, because we can take our own families out here and enjoy it,” she said.

Photos

Pat Washington, president of the Student Government Association, gets help from Stephen Lawrence as they pick up leaves and sticks to make mulch Tuesday afternoon. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

Volunteers sport Earth Day shirts that show the problem of global warming. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

After partially dismantling a bridge, volunteers at Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg remove debris from a creek as they clean up a recreational area on campus Tuesday to celebrate Earth Day. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen