Milton Pope 8th graders volunteer at Illini State Park

Milton Pope eighth graders learned the value of community service Wednesday, just a day before the class graduated on its way to five different high schools.

Nineteen students participated in the second annual service day at Illini State Park in Marseilles. In 2023, Sarah Farnsworth, the FFA instructor at Milton Pope, led a group of students to help spread mulch around the oak trees at the Fallen Soldiers Tree Memorial in Illini State Park. This year, students helped clear brush from a closed area of the park, in an effort to reopen it, and more notably helped plant sunflowers and red millet just west of the Illinois River bridge over the park.

Milton Pope partnered with La Salle County Pheasants Forever, Laborers Local Union 393 and Illinois Department of Natural Resources on the work.

The students learned Wednesday they were “swampers,” cleaning up the branches and brush after volunteers from the Laborers Local Union and IDNR cut down invasive trees in an effort to reopen a now restricted and overgrown with vegetation area of the park.

Another group of students cleared rock from a newly tilled plot and spread sunflower and millet seeds to supply food and habitat for songbirds and other wildlife.

“We’re happy any time we can get youth involved in conservation projects,” said John Garrity, habitat chairman, of the La Salle County Pheasants Forever.

Eighth grader Branson Hughes said he enjoyed being outdoors.

“We’re doing something good for other people and not just ourselves,” Hughes said. “And we get to work together.”

Sophia Swift, another eighth grader, observed that it takes a lot of volunteers to make an impact in the park.

“It was kind of like cleaning your bedroom,” Swift said. “We started with a lot of clutter, but by the end, you see how neat everything is and it makes you feel better.”

Farnsworth said the service day is in between a day reserved for the school’s play and graduation, so returning to the classroom doesn’t make much sense.

“This way we get the kids outside,” she said. “Many of them have never been to Illini State Park, and it’s right here in their backyard. It also gets them exposed to lots of different outdoor tasks and teaches them safety when working outdoors, and identifying plants, such as poison ivy.”

Eighth grader Brady Fort was one of the students learning new things. He said he didn’t know the locust trees were not native to the park and had never seen a chainsaw at work. His classmate Josie Mitchell said students made memories Wednesday, hanging out with friends and doing community service.

“It’s so desolate and peaceful here,” said eighth grader Brody Schutter of working at the riverside park.

David Raikes, of Local 393, coordinated the different entities working together Wednesday. He said he’s happy to see volunteers make progress in the park, because it’s an important site for Marseilles.

“A lot of people walk through here, and because of the work put in by these students, those folks can enjoy seeing songbirds and seeing deer,” Raikes said. “The students can come back themselves and know they played a role in it.”

Farnsworth said she’s excited about teaching those values.

“We’re hopeful this will be a new tradition,” she said. “The students really gain a lot from being out here.”