DURHAM, N.C. – They cleared. They sawed. They conquered.

Seventy-six Nicholas School students volunteered their time and energy to work on environmental public-service projects at five sites around the Triangle as part of the first annual Nicholas School Student Volunteer Day on September 15.

Among other jobs, student teams cleared debris and built a 250-foot split rail fence around a historic cemetery in Umstead State Park in Raleigh; removed 25 bags of invasive microstigium grass and set up two flow monitoring stations along Ellerbe Creek in Durham; and built a retaining wall and stabilized 75 feet of trail that was eroding into the river at Eno River State Park’s Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area near Hillsborough.

At day’s end, the teams – each comprised of first- and second-year students – gathered to celebrate their accomplishment and new friendships at a cookout in 51 Forest.

The daylong event was held as part of the school’s annual orientation activities. It was organized by students as a way to connect to the community, make contacts with local environmental organizations, and get to know each other a little better, says Kate Taylor, a second-year MEM student who helped spearhead the effort.

“It’s easy to get so busy with classes and papers and projects that you lose touch. This is a way to introduce students to the area, and to forge stronger relationships between first- and second-year students before the year gets too hectic,” she says. “A group of students drove all the way from the Marine Lab in Beaufort to take part, and we even had a few alumni join us. It was amazing to see the Nicholas School community come together for such a great cause.”

Cynthia A. Peters, assistant dean of enrollment services, hopes the success of this year’s event will encourage students to organize more volunteer service days in the future.
“I’d love to see this become a Nicholas School tradition, something students come together as a community to do several times a year,” she says. “I’m definitely in favor of our students learning more about the community they are living in and taking advantage of opportunities to give back, and I hope we can support their efforts.”

Community feedback to the students’ day of volunteer service has been uniformly positive. A ranger at the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area said it was the first time any volunteer group has completed an entire project in a day and still had time to do more.

Offices and organizations providing logistical or in-kind support for Volunteer Day included the Nicholas School Dean’s Office, the Office of Enrollment Services, the Office of Career Services, 51 Forest, Woodcrest Farms, Eno River State Park, Umstead State Park, the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, the student chapter of the Society of American Foresters, the Environmental Internship Fund, and the FOREM professional student organization. 

Of the 76 students, 24 were second-years and 52 were first-years.