Each summer, the Mt. Vista Governor’s School of Warren County visits Shenandoah River State Park to do a river float with park interpretive staff and to complete an environmental service project.

Students spend time working on Bluebird boxes

This year, Dasha Sealock, long-time teacher for the program, had the fantastic idea of creating “living roofs” for some of the Bluebird boxes in the park. These roofs,which can be planted on all types of structures, are not only nice to look at, but provide valuable services wherever they are planted,such as helping to manage storm water runoff, absorbing heat and creating new habitat for wildlife.

Students are eager to begin work on the Bluebird houses

The students were really excited to begin this project. A few days before the group arrived, park staff painted a layer of roofing tar on the wood roof of the bird boxes,to waterproof them. The students completed the remaining steps upon their arrival at the park,which included filling the enclosed square roof bed with soil, planting a variety of native seeds in the soil, watering the seeds and then securing wiring over the whole roof, to stabilize the soil until the plants grow. 

Hands-on learning makes it easier to understand how we can help our environment

These boxes will add even more beauty to the garden area surrounding the visitor center. Eventually, we would love to add these living roofs to the numerous Bluebird boxes along the Culler’s Trail in the park. This is a fantastic project you can do at home with your children, too! Living roofs can be created on top of sheds, studios, garages, and even homes. A big “thank you” to Mrs. Sealock and her students for coming up with this wonderful conservation project!   

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