Muddy Sneakers alumni give back to beloved Piedmont site

When National Geographic issued a GeoChallenge for students to develop a creative solution to the problem of plastics pollution, North Rowan Middle School teacher Angelia Fleming wanted to get her students involved.

Reflecting back on their aquatic ecosystem lessons in Muddy Sneakers, Ms. Fleming’s sixth- and seventh-graders understood that their local creeks and rivers are tied to a bigger aquatic system that eventually connects waters from their region to the Atlantic Ocean. Ms. Fleming reached out to Muddy Sneakers staff to share their knowledge of the region’s waterways and facilitate a project to give back to local public lands. In March, the middle-school students coordinated a trash cleanup with fifth-graders from North Rowan Elementary School at Eagle Point Nature Preserve in Salisbury, a site they’d explored during their own Muddy Sneakers expeditions.

Cynthia Peedin, Muddy Sneakers’ Piedmont program director, said it was amazing to see the middle-schoolers so excited to return to Eagle Point and revisit the places where they had conducted field experiments. The students saw how much trash was floating in the preserve’s waterways — bleach bottles, flip-flops, styrofoam — and  quickly embraced the task of picking up trash. Along the way, they reminisced about what they’d learned in that natural space with Muddy Sneakers. “They were out there to pick up trash, but they were making connections to what they’re learning,” Peedin said.

The classes picked up a dozen bags of trash at Eagle Point as part of the project, which also involves students creating presentations about plastics pollution. Ms. Fleming sees a strong tie between students learning outdoors and caring for the environment:

“I really love that Muddy Sneakers gives them a sense of wonder and discovery that you don’t get on your iPad, but that you get by being outside and having the time to look around you.”