Community Care at Canal Origins Park

On Saturday, April 26, Friends’ Chicago River Schools Network (CRSN) hosted 40 high school students from Back of the Yards College Prep who spent a cool windy morning at Canal Origins Park, along the South Branch of the Chicago River, learning about the river and its water quality. The students also removed 174 pounds of litter from the nearly three acre park that commemorates the Illinois & Michigan Canal which connected Lake Michigan to the Illinois River, via the Chicago River, and was completed in 1848.

Throughout the spring and summer, Friends is hosting student field trips, community cleanups, and canoe and clean events to build sustained youth and community stewardship for reducing litter pollution, in particular plastic, at Canal Origins Park. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program, Friends and partners at Loyola University Chicago, McKinley Park Development Council, Freshwater Lab at UIC, Shedd Aquarium, Urban Rivers, Chicago Park District, and the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization seek to increase access to the benefits of nature, reduce the impacts of litter, and foster greater community care and stewardship around this underserved park.

“The activities were very hands on and the kids were engaged and enthusiastic,” said John Engelbreit, a science teacher with Back of the Yards College Prep who also led the trip. “They learned so much about water quality and why it is important to keep our parks clean. Everyone had a great time and got really invested. We appreciate Friends providing the support in making it happen.”

Since its founding in 1996, the CRSN has engaged more than 500,000 students and teachers in science, language, and history activities at river locations, north and south. During the past school year, the CRSN impacted more than 25,000 students including hands-on experimentation and research on field trips to the river with Friends’ staff and through the hundreds of teachers who have been trained to use our river curricula.