Friends' Central Students Building Bridges, Making a Difference

This spring, Friends’ Central’s Middle School students had an opportunity to make a real and positive impact on our local community while getting a hands-on lesson in science and engineering. A footbridge over Indian Creek in Morris Park, walking distance from School, washed away last summer, leaving local residents and visitors without a path across the creek. The students came up with a temporary solution that also brought attention to the problem and has resulted in a recent commitment by City Councilman for the 4th District, Curtis Jones, Jr. to the building of a permanent bridge.

Middle School science teachers Doug Ross and Patty Zaradic take a great interest in Indian Creek, considering it both a teaching tool and a place to put service learning and environmental concerns into action. Over the years, Ross has brought teams of students and parent volunteers – clad in old clothes, long pants, and heavy work gloves – to clear trash and invasive plants from the creek. The creek is also a “platform for curricular connections to chemistry, biology, and physics,” said Patty Zaradic, as it provides a hands-on site for the study of a range of topics, including water quality, microscopic life, plant life, and erosion.

Transforming the loss of the bridge into a teaching opportunity, Ross, assisted by social studies teacher Jacob Fogel ’07 and Fernando Jones ’08, created a Mini-Course entitled “Bridge Over Indian Creek.” (In the spring, Middle School students choose from a range of three-day “Mini-Courses” devised by their teachers.) Students who selected this Mini-Course were tasked with the challenge of cleaning up the creek where the bridge had collapsed, removing invasive plant species, building a temporary crossing, and planting native flowers and plants to help inhibit soil erosion and make the area more attractive.

Isabel MacFarlane ’20 and Madeleine Anderson ’20, who participated in the Bridge Mini-Course, described the experience enthusiastically. Despite the cold weather at the time, they thoroughly enjoyed collaborating to build a stepping stone crossing, using materials found in the area. They were inspired to help, they said, when a Friends’ Central sophomore described falling into the creek at the site of the collapsed bridge the previous summer while riding his bike. Fortunately, he was uninjured as he was wearing a helmet and padding!

Once the temporary crossing was complete, local residents were impressed. “The neighbors had many good things to say about our project, and they have been using the crossing and appreciate the lovely plantings,” said Ross. The students’ temporary solution prompted residents to take action and lobby the Fairmount Park Commission to invest in a new, permanent bridge. The Park Commission did not have the money available, so the residents appealed to Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr.

Doug Ross met recently with a group of residents, representatives from Fairmount Park and the Water Department, and Curtis Jones, Jr. to discuss building a permanent bridge. “I think he (the Councilman) was impressed,” said Ross, “that so many people, including the Friends’ Central students, had been so involved, and he decided to give money left over in this area’s capital project budget for this fiscal year to build a new bridge, which is $100,000! The engineer from the Water Department and the Councilman agreed with every one of our recommendations … to reshape the area and raise the bridge to avoid being washed away by future floods. Everyone is thrilled!”

The local residents are clear that “all the energy and attention we brought to this project was critical in giving people hope and stirring up interest. People were impressed that we not only asked for a new bridge, we set about taking action ourselves,” said Ross.

Construction of the permanent bridge is expected to begin this fall, and, no doubt, the Middle School teachers and students at Friend’s Central will be keeping a watchful eye on progress!