Tuesday, May 15, marked the first collaborative community service project at Millennium Park between the fourth-graders at Collins Elementary School and their sister school, Buchanan Elementary School, part of the Grand Rapids Public Schools. The event was the final one for the school year for the two schools, which established an interactive partnership over the previous several years. This year, among other events, was a reading buddy program between the two schools where the fourth-grade students from each school were bused to their sister school where they read with a second-grade buddy. In addition, fourth graders wrote back and forth to each other as pen pals and were able to meet in person as they worked alongside one another at the Millennium Park clean-up day. While at the park, students were divided into small groups and were led on various projects throughout the park by the park’s staff and several volunteers from each school. Students did various projects such as trash pick up along the trails, walnut tree planting, and pulling garlic mustard, an invasive species. Students also participated in a nature scavenger hunt and enjoyed time, both in nature at the park, getting to know one another.
