Local students build walking trail

Four Fair Lawn High School students worked under the guidance of the Student Conservation Association for three weeks this summer to build a walking path, clear debris and improve drainage and other conditions at the 17-acre Fair Lawn Arboretum.

Kathy Meneghin, a science teacher at FLHS who uses the space for her horticulture classes, contracted the SCA, a non-profit organization that provides young people with the opportunity to do meaningful work that makes a positive impact on the world around them. This program involved hiring the Fair Lawn students to construct a walking path to make the area more accessible to the public and introduced the students to career options in conservation and outdoor/environmental leadership.

Students Aviva Zand, Noah Mandel, Zach Markowitz, and Julia Rios joined forces to build a walking trail nearly half a mile long. They also built a 12-ft bridge to cross a small stream, and improved the drainage of the stream. A turnpike was built to allow pedestrians to walk across an area that is frequently flooded. The four worked under the supervision of New Milford college student Danielle Woods, who is currently studying environmental sciences at Montana State University.

Ms. Meneghin raised $12,000 to fund this project, mainly by selling Pop Tarts from a snack cart. Several community groups also donated money to match those funds, including the Fair Lawn Rotary, the Sunrise Rotary, the Fair Lawn Athletic Club Women’s Auxiliary, and private citizen Han Broekman. The SCA also matched the donations from privately funded sources.

From Pablo Galesi, SCA coordinator: “I visited the crew on a rainy day around lunch time. I saw the crew truck parked near the mulched trail with tools propped up against it. The doors were open and I saw that the crew was eating their lunch in the crew cab as it was kind of a crummy day. The crew was dirty, sweaty, wet, tired though seemingly happy and proud of how much quality work they had done in such a short span of time. They told me (proudly) to walk the trail as I hadn't seen it since the end of week one. I was astounded by how much had been accomplished and this was before they had installed the turnpike during the final week of the program!! I was so impressed with the amount of work that this small crew had accomplished in 9 days and can say confidently that they were one of the hardest working crews I have seen during my time with SCA.”