Greetings from Park Place!

Each time that the YWCA Tech GYRLS works at Park Place, I ask them to write a blog for me to share.  Sometimes it takes a few days (or more) for the information to get back to me; these ladies are BUSY!   But alas! I have several to share with great pictures that the girls took:

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

“We went to Sugar Hollow Park with ASD for our first group water testing.  We tested the water for pH balance, oxygen levels, pollution and more.  We also tested a still stream and a moving stream.  Keorra, Keanna and Keylisha tested the water for different types of creatures so we could label them.  They found crawdads, worms, snails, and clams.”

Keorra and Katie – YWCA Tech GYRLS

testing converstations

6/18/14

When the TechGYRLS next met with Ms. Deni, we went to the Coomes Center in Abingdon, VA and walked on the Panicello Memorial Trail. Devan, (the Summer AmeriCorps VISTA) put random stuff around the trail and all the TechGYRLS had to find all of it. (This UN-natural trail is used to help trail goers “look up and around” instead of staring at their feet.  Devan enjoyed putting random objects along the trail including a  stuffed green giraffe that the GYRLS got to take with them as a new bus mascot!) We also went to a small garden strip and started weeding. We fixed poles to hold up the fence for the flowers and planted peanuts that we hope to use to feed woodpeckers later in the fall.  We also had to weed the trail too! (The “strip” that the GYRLS are refering to is a Pollinator Strip – built to attract numerous pollinators including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  The strip is a 100′ x 4′ garden that is fenced in to discourage deer and ground hogs from eating the various annuals and perennials that grow within.  It includes colorful signs that students continuously make and attach to the fence; helping trail goers learn about the different plants and animals that create this unique habitat.)   At the end of the trail we did water tests on Town Creek and compared them to the tests that we did at Sugar Hollow the week before.

Casey & Katie

turbidity tubethe group