Fishburn Receives Environmental Facelift

Norfolk Southern volunteers work on an open amphitheater – a pergola – at Fishburn Park Elementary.
Norfolk Southern volunteers work on an open amphitheater – a pergola – at Fishburn Park Elementary.

The “new” Fishburn Park Elementary School-Focus on Environmental Science will be ready for students in the fall, thanks, in part, to help from Norfolk Southern volunteers and other community partners. Norfolk Southern volunteers and others helped build a shaded passageway for an amphitheatre Saturday to help minimize the heat. Also on hand was the KIVA group, Kids in the Valley, Adventuring, with parents and children helping out for a while on a sweltering hot day.

Volunteers also refurbished a backyard habitat and pond. Members of Norfolk Southern’s Conserve-IT group weeded and cut back overgrown areas. Rain collection barrels were set up and will be used to water gardens around the schoolyard. Vegetables grown and cared for by students will be sold at the Roanoke Farmer’s Market.

“This was a good time to volunteer,” said Norfolk Southern IT employee Jamie Helmer, who likes the new environmental angle that Fishburn Park Elementary will take on this school year. “We’re very excited about the possibilities. They’ve got a couple of great concepts going on.” She likes the tomatoes that will be grown as a cash crop by students.

John Turbyfill is part of a volunteer council at Norfolk Southern that looks for projects employees with the freight railroad giant can get involved with and “contribute to the community.”

Carol Orndorff is a member of the “Thoroughbred Volunteers,” which she called a relatively new group at Norfolk Southern that partnered with the Conserve-IT people.

“This was a complete mess back here,” said Turbyfill, motioning toward an area in back of the school where an existing pond was cleaned up and overgrown brush was cleared off. “A lot of huge plants were pulled out.”

Helmer concurred. “The grass was as tall as the trees,” she said.

The Roanoke Valley Bird Club provided a birdhouse for the bluebirds and Lowes donated lumber and other supplies. Helmer hopes the environmental lessons learned by students at Fishburn this year is something they will take with them at the end of the day.

“They’ll start recycling at home – and it will a whole new generation with a new consciousness,” she said.

By Gene Marrano
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