Meet the environmental champs. Bishop Lloyd Middle School Grade 8 students Emmett Sherbinin, left, and Cassy Setter came up with a winning competition solution to protect our watersheds from invasive plant species by creating this Brush Off Invaders boot cleaning station, to be installed in several park settings in the area. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Bishop Lloyd Middle School students have found a way to give invasive plant species in our area the brush off.
Grade 9 whiz kids Emmett Sherbinin and Cassy Setter are the creators of the Brush Off Invaders boot cleaning station with signage to be installed at various locations in the area.
The class project earned them first place at this year’s Caring For Our Watersheds competition, which engages students in preserving and improving their local watersheds through student-led solutions.
The victorious local team topped 275 other judged proposals from Alberta in Wetaskiwin recently.
Emmett described the challenge and their solution for the media last Thursday.
“In our watershed, a big problem is invasive species, and by installing these boot brush stations, people can give their boots and shoes a brush off before entering a park area,” he said.
The youth says the brush station attached to a podium helps to slow the spread of invasive species.
Some of the invasive species on their list include spotted knapweed, orange hawkweed, flowering rush and oxeye daisy.
“Emmett did most of the looking into what they were and we had looked up how we can help with that, which is brushing them off,” said Cassy.
“About one per cent of invasive species hitchhike off people’s shoes.”
Mud and seeds carry invasive plants. Use the boot brush under this sign to clean off before and after hiking, instructs their stand poster.
The information includes three easy ways to prevent the spread of harmful plants and defines what are invasive species.
All of that caught the attention of the competition judges who counted down the top 10 projects leaving the champs in shock and awe.
“For a second I did think we got skipped over because it went down from 10. It was kind of shocking. I didn’t think we’d get first,” said Cassy.
For finishing first, they won $1,000 of spending money to split between them and another $1,000 for the school, which will likely go toward an upcoming canoe trip to Meadow Lake.
A second Bishop Lloyd team finished in the top 30 with a total of 10 school projects entered into the event.
It’s all part of a land-based cultural leadership program taught by Derek Highland that combines social studies, science and English for the Caring For Our Watersheds competition.
Highland notes this is the second year his students have won first place.
He said this year’s winners designed and built a prototype station to take to the competition.
It was actually built by Emmett and his dad at home.
“My dad helped me go buy lumber and other required materials at the local home depot and we sat in the garage and built it,” said Emmett.
“We had limited tools, so the next one we build will be probably in the IA (industrial shop) at the school where we are better equipped.”
They plan to build four more to install around Lloyd.
The first Brush Off Invaders station will be located at Sandy Beach Regional Park.
Board member Charlene Hill explained the kids reached out to the general manager who put the idea to the board to see if members would be interested in implementing it at the park.
“We are and we are happy to report it will be at our community garden area,” said Hill.
Stations could also be installed at Vermilion Provincial Park and Bud Miller All Seasons Park.
“It’s cool to see it actually get implemented somewhere,” said Cassy.
That task was up to Emmett who also secured permission from Lloydminster Fish and Game Association to put one up at the Jack McDougall fish pond about 11 kilometres east of Lloyd on Highway 16.
The association’s treasurer Larry Chambers says they are definitely against having alien species enter into any water and he hopes the student project will make people more aware of the issues.
“They are specifically talking about plant seeds because those are the easiest things to move on your boots,” said Chambers.
‘The kinds of things we don’t want to see in native waters is the ordinary goldfish. It has become a bit of a problem in some areas.”
He added another thing they want to prevent is the spread of whirling disease in fish, but that’s a parasite.
“It’s the objective of the project that’s the most important thing,” said Chambers.
