Middle school students came together Friday for the culmination of a local effort to stop the harmful effects of rain runoff.
The town of Carrboro and Friends of Bolin Creek celebrated the finishing touches on a rain garden at McDougle Middle School through demonstrations and lessons on how it is used to improve the environment.
A rain garden is a man-made depression filled with vegetation to filter and absorb runoff. It prevents erosion and pollution in local waterways by avoiding the use of the city’s storm drainage system, said Leigh Aultman, a science teacher at the middle school.
The garden includes a tank that collects rain runoff from the gym’s roof and uses it to water the garden.
“We hope that we can turn the garden into a community learning center,” said Aultman.
Students at McDougle Middle School participated in the completion of the rain garden by helping to break up ground and plant vegetation like grasses.
“It is so great the way it came together. You have to love it,” said Friends of Bolin Creek Chairwoman Julie McClintock.
At the celebration, Aultman, the garden’s designers and others involved with the project taught students about environmental problems caused by runoff through practical demonstrations. They also highlighted problems a rain garden can solve.
Students rotated through three learning stations where they planted and mulched the garden, learned about how water-resistant surfaces affect runoff and investigated how many tanks it would take to capture all of the water off of their gym’s roof.