STUDENTS DO NATURE WORK IN GEORGIA FOR SPRING BREAK posted 3/12/04

Rebekah Horn and Sarah Otto put their backs into it as they plant a tree.

A group of Adrian College students headed south to spend spring break on the water—along the banks of a river, that is.

The Adrian students, along with Student Activities Director Kevin Schwemmin, helped the Nature Conservancy on a work project in Georgia the week of Feb. 29. Their mission was to plant 800 trees to form a riparian buffer along a 1.2 mile stretch of the Conasauga River.

“Digging holes is hard after you’ve already dug 40,” Schwemmin said. He added that hauling the trees, which each weighed about 60 pounds, was no piece of cake, either, but that there was a lot of satisfaction from accomplishing their goal.

Adrian students worked in Georgia on similar projects last year, too. (Read story)

Students on this year's trip were junior Rebekah Horn, junior Sarah Otto, sophomore Rebecca Young and freshman Cheryl Beauchamp.

Otto said she enjoyed getting to know her fellow students better, as well as a group of students from Grand Valley State University who were also working there. She also enjoyed seeing waterfalls on an eight-mile hike into the mountains that they took on their free day. But it was the sense of accomplishment that was best.

"It was definitely a life-changing experience for me,” she said. “Knowing that we helped out was just completely awesome.”

Group photo, including GVSU students. Row 2, L to R, Rebekah Horn and Cheryl Beauchamp, then Kevin Schwemmin on farthest right. Row 3, a GVSU student, then Sarah Otto and Becky Young.