The EE Sampler - Jefferson County Public Schools

Cory Child
Urban Water
Saving Public Parks
Walking up the jogging path, Barry turned back too watch the houses and the far-off skyscrapers
disappear behind the horizon. Each time he begins his jog through Cherokee Park, Barry smiles with the
sense of natural enjoyment for escaping the urban again. Barry set off at his regular pace, passing by
fellow joggers, smelling the local wildflowers and trees, and hearing the periodic car, reminding the
nature-goers that concrete and steel waits beyond the 409 acres of forest.
As Barry makes it to the top of scenic hill, he notices a large group of men and women gathered
together, holding a wide range of tools, from plastic bags to chainsaws. The crowd looked agitated and
tense, wary of some unknown fear. Approaching, Barry overhears a few broken, hushed, conversations.
“ – infiltrating the valley.”
“ – horrible! The heart of a vicious creature, hidden behind such pleasant looks -”
“ – eradication, as much as possible – .”
The head of the group, which by now seemed more like an army brigade, was getting nearer.
Barry could see the leaders, clothed in heavy stitched uniforms. One held a fearsome, shrub chainsaw.
Another of the leaders caught sight of Barry approaching and motioned for some guardsmen to direct him
to the front of the throng.
“Name and rank, boy!” The mustachioed man demanded.
“Uh, Barry, sir…and I’m a high school jogger…” Barry replied, perplexed
“We are in sort of a pickle, Barry. An introduced, non-native species of plants, an invasive brush
probably know to you as Japanese honeysuckle is choking out and eradicating all our local plant life.
Every year we wage battle against it, only to find fresh set of reinforcements lying in wait beneath the
canopy of oaks and ash. We can’t keep playing give and take. We must take the battle to it and eliminate
the threat to our natural ecosystem.”
“And how do I come in?”
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