Five Heights High students are part of a 10-member high school team, GLISTEN, the Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship Through Education Network.
GLISTEN students attended the Sustainable Cleveland Summit on September 16-17. Pictured with Cleveland Mayor Jackson are Heights High students David McKenzie, Sonceria Payne, Sinclair Massey, TaRon Wright and coordinator Augustina Odenbrett, (L-R). Not pictured: Dejante’ Holsey.
The team is volunteering to improve public lands, and has been focusing on enhancing local habitats for migrating butterflies and birds and growing local food in community and school gardens. The other five students in the GLISTEN team are from schools in the city of Cleveland.
The Heights High students began working in early September and have already focused on three Heights garden areas to encourage milkweed growth and to remove invasive, non-native species. The Monarch butterfly depends on the milkweed plant for food, and as a “hatchery” for its eggs. However, in the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of milkweed plants nationally due to herbicide use, threatening the Monarch butterfly.
Dejante’ Hosley, Sinclair Massey, David McKenzie, Sonceria Payne and TaRon Wright have focused their work on the triangle garden and Cedar Glen Parkway at the corner of Euclid Heights Boulevard and Cedar Road, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, and the habitat area around the lagoon at Forest Hill Park.
“We are trying to give the milkweed more opportunity to flourish so it can provide food for the Monarch butterfly. We also want to improve and habitat for migrating birds,” said GLISTEN Program Director Glenn Odenbrett. Coordinating the Heights High team is 2014 alumna Augustina Odenbrett.
The students also attended the September 16 & 17 Sustainable Cleveland Summit. “The summit gave us many ideas about other projects through which we can make a difference in our community,” continued Mr. Odenbrett.
CH-UH Coordinator of Partnerships and Internships Desiree Caliguire-Maier is helping guide the project.
As part of their commitment to GLISTEN, the high school students enrolled in AmeriCorps. Nationally, AmeriCorps is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency that helps more than 5 million Americans improve the lives of their fellow citizens through service. After the students complete 300 hours of service during the coming year, the students will be eligible to receive a $1195 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. The award is named after Eli Segal, one of the pioneers of the national service movement and the first CNCS CEO. The award may be used to pay educational costs at eligible post-secondary educational institutions, as well as to repay qualified student loans.
Locally, GLISTEN’s AmeriCorps program is sponsored by the Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development Council and affiliated with The Corps Network, a national organization that promotes youth service. The Council is a nine-county Northeast Ohio organization that works toward a sustainable regional community.