Habitat Restoration
1. Pollinator Garden - This garden was constructed by 15 students of all grades (9-12) as an Earth Day (April 2018) activity as a solution to help restore the bee population. The biodiversity of flowers gives the bees many options on which plants to use for pollination. Specific flowers and plant species are yarrow, columbine, baptisia, black eyed susan, bee balm and coneflower.
2. Osprey Nest - This was also hand built by students (9-12) as an Earth Day 2018 activity. At the moment there is already an existing campus osprey nest on a bulkhead, but it can be flooded and washed away at high tides. This platform will be raised higher up on the same bulkhead to provide a safe nesting space for the ospreys in the future.
3. Wood Duck Boxes - These 3 boxes were hand-built by students (9-12) as an Earth Day 2018 activity for the Maryland Wood Duck Initiative. Two of these wood duck boxes were placed on Gunston's campus to provide habitat for wildlife, specifically wood ducks in the Centreville, MD area.
4. Invasive Species Removal - During Earth Day each year, approximately 10 Gunston students (9-12) have the opportunity to participate in an invasive species removal stewardship activity. From English ivy to kudzu, our campus contains a number of highly invasive species. Students are pictures below removing invasive species.