A new addition to Jubilee Wetland
By Rossland Telegraph
Rossland Summit School (RSS) teacher Laura Jackman confesses that her husband is feeling a bit neglected these days. Laura Mackay says she has hardly seen husband Don Liszt recently — “He’s been working twelve-hour days!” Signs of marital discord? No — just hard work, dedication and intense community involvement.
Jackman appeared as a delegation before Rossland City Council at its May 8 meeting, reported here, along with three of her Grade Two students, to request permission to establish a storage shed near Jubilee Wetland.
“We’ve been studying the wetland since the beginning of the year,” stated one Grade Two child at the Council meeting, and Jackman explained that every time they go out to the wetland for their studies, they have to lug their study equipment all the way out there. With a shed to store the equipment, they can spend less time carrying things, and will have more time to study the wetland and its inhabitants.
Council gave its permission on May 8, and only ten days later, Liszt and his woodworking students from Stanley Humphries Secondary School in Castlegar were busy constructing the shed near Jubilee Wetland.
Asked what colour the roof will be, Jackman hesitated, and Mackay said, “Green! It’s in our carport right now.” Then Jackman shared her plan to give the shed a roof that’s green in another sense. She wants to do another project next year, if possible, to install a living roof — one that supports a layer of hardy plants. The children, she explained, will do research on the requirements for that sort of green roof. “It’s enquiry-based learning,” she said.
As the wetland restoration settles in and matures, the children should have more plants and animals to study. The wetland is expected to become an increasingly attractive feature as the reeds and rushes, shrubs and trees grow.
