Letters
to the Students
Dear Homewood
Montessori School students,
My name is Mallory
Vaughn. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run,. Today we learned about watersheds, brownfields,
and grasslands. I learned that Ms. Goto said that
when it rains so much, all of the water pipes cannot hold
all of the water. So, the people at the water systems
place shut that pipe off. When the toilet water comes
down with the rain water it goes in the stream and make
it smell bad. Ewww! We also learned about Duck
Hollow. Can you believe it only has 18 houses?
I think in the future when we clean it up, it will be a
beautiful place. There will be clearer water and more
people and animals will want to go there. Aren't you
excited! I know I am. I think we are going to
have a lot of fun, don't you? I am looking forward
to meeting you and starting the project!!
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My name is Chris
Butler. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School;.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Why do plants grow on slag in some places
but not everywhere? What's Riparian? What does
a slag plateau look like? I learned that Nine Mile
Run is actually an place. I learned that slag is a
junk metal formed when you make steel. I learned that
Duck Hollow is a very small town. I hope we can solve
some of the stream's problems. I'm looking forward
to the field trip.
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My name is Matt
Krause. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Today I learned about Nine Mile Run.
I don't really understand that much. What is Nine
Mile Run? Is it a fun project? Did you have
fun? I learned what a brownfield is. I learned
about Duck Hollow. And I also learned about the polluted
stream. Do you know anyone who live sin Duck Hollow?
I think a lot of people who live there are in Nine Mile
Run.
See ya in October,
Your pal,
Matt.
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My name is James
Hill. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Today I learned about a lot of stuff.
Mrs. Reiko taught us about watersheds and slag dumps from
old steel mills. She is a nice person but she doesn't
speak a lot of English so you might have a pretty hard time
understanding what she is saying. A woman from the
Children's Museum said when the steel mills were there,
it used to rain black sugar. I have some questions
to ask you.
- What do you
think about this field trip?
- Do you know
about Duck Hollow? They only have 18 houses and
they're right by the slag dump.
- We are going
to help make the slag dump into a greenway. Do you
know that? We also learned about cleaning the water.
I think this field trip is going to be fun because we're
the only class going on the field trip.
- What do you
think the field trip is going to be like? Our library
teacher said we are going to be visiting you on the Internet.
I just can't wait because I'm going to have my first Internet
friend from Homewood Montessori School. I will see
you soon on the Internet.
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My name is Kenneth
Michael. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I look forward to working with you
and I look forward to meeting with you. I live right
by the site I have been to where the site is last year.
I learned about the watershed, the mouth of the river, brownfields,
slag, grasslands, slag growth/slag no-growth, Duck Hollow.
Do you think the project will be fun? I hope so!
Signed,
Kenneth Michael.
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My name is Joshua
Harrison. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I learned about how the Nine Mile Run was
used as a dumping ground for industrial slag from Pittsburgh
steel mills. I also learned that the Nine Mile Run
watershed is a natural drainage basin of the Monongahela
River. Have you learned anything new about the nine
Mile run? Do you like working with the Nine Mile Run
project? I like working with it because you don't
have to sit in the classroom all day and do lots of work
at your desk. By helping the Nine Mile Run waters
I think we will help clean it up. Do you think so?
I also learned that the slag dumps near Nine Mile Run
22,000,000 tons. That's like putting 22,000,000 elephants
together. I have to go now. See you soon I hope.
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My name is Triona
Hartman. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I don't think people should let the waste
go to the river. Do you like the Nine Mile Run project?
I learned that all of the waste goes into the river when
there is a lot of rain. Do you think the environment
is important? I learned that the environment is very
important to the people doing the Nine Mile Run project.
Do you like animals? I love animals! I want
to help animals as much as possible. I learned that
there are birds, and snakes, and fish, and bugs at the stream.
I'm really looking forward to actually talking to you about
this! I can't wait to meet you!
Sincerely,
Triona E. Hartman
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My name is Keshia
Wright. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I am really going to enjoy working with
you. Have you ever gone on this trip before?
Miss Goto told us about the watershed and the mouth of the
river. Do you know what a brownfield is? Miss
Goto taught us about it. Do you know exactly what
Nine Mile Run is? I guess I sort of know a little
bit about what the Nine Mile Run really is. It is
a program to help clean up the rivers such as the Monongahela,
Ohio, and the Allegheny. We are going to be working
on the Monongahela. I guess you already know that.
Well, that's pretty much all I know about the Nine Mile
Run Project.
Sincerely yours,
Keshia.
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My name is Marsha
M. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Hi! What are your names? Did
you know that one elephant weighs one ton and there are
22,000,000 tons of slag on the plateau? I hope we
can make Nine Mile Run look very nice. In the past,
it was very dirty. There are a lot of animals there.
How do you think we can help clean up? Why do you
think it was very dirty in the 1920s? Why were there
a lot of animals? I am looking forward to meeting
you on Oct. 21, 1998!!!!!!!!!
Marsha.
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My name is Tiffanie
Lucas. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Do you know who lives in Duck Hollow? Do
you know what a brown field is? I do. In the
future, the Nine Mile Run site is going to be nice and clean.
All of the problems will be gone also. A lot of animals
use the stream. But the animals don't die all of the
time. The stream water is really dirty. If you
drink the stream's water you will get really sick.
I can't wait to see you guys. Bye.
From, Tiffanie
Lucas.
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Hi! My
name is Angela Destro. I go to the Dickson Intermediate
School. I am in 6th grade. I just started learning
about Nine Mile Run. This seems like a neat project!
I think Duck Hollow sounds cool. I don't known anyone
who lives there. Do you? It's hard to believe
there are only 18 houses there. My grandfather worked
in a steel mill. Do you happen to know anyone who
worked in a steel mill? It is also so hard to believe
that slag weighs 22 million tons!!! I've seen pieces
of slag. Have you? I hope that we can make a
difference. I'm very excited to meet you!
Angela Destro.
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My name is Lindsey
O'Toole. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. We learned about all kinds of things.
We learned about a watershed. Actually, I live in
a watershed. We learned about the mouth of the river,
the Nine Mile Run valley, slag, brownfields, slag plateaus,
a riparian, grasslands, a forest, slag growth or no slag
growth, and Duck Hollow. (Duck Hollow only has 18
small houses in it.) We've learned where the Nine
Mile Run is located. Do you think we will have fun
when we go? Do you think we can make a difference?
I hope we can make Nine Mile Run a cleaner place.
I can't wait until October 21st. Are you excited?
See you then.
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My name is Steven
. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School. I
am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. We live in the Nine Mile Run watershed.
Nine Mile Run isn't far from school. She said "There
is about 22 million tons of slag. That is equivalent
to 22 million elephants." Do you live near Nine Mile
Run? Did you hear about Duck Hollow? Do you
think Nine Mile Run will ever become a greenway?
I hope we can Nine Mile Run a better place.
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My name is Leandra
Baldwin. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Do you know what Nine Mile Run is?
I liked when Reiko told us about Duck Hollow. It's
a place with only 18 homes. What was your favorite
part? I learned about a watershed. I learned
how toilet water and rain water go into the Monongahela
river. I think people should keep nine Mile Run clean
in the future. Have a great time learning with Reiko!
Don't you think we need to clean up Nine Mile Run?
I can't wait to meet you on October 21st!
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My name is Jimmy
Wissman. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I live in the Nine Mile Run watershed.
Do you know anyone who lives in Duck Hollow? We learned
about slag. It's left-over steel. Do you know
what a brownfield is? I do, it's a place where a steel
industry used to be. Do you know where Nine Mile Run
is? What I wonder is, what will Nine Mile Run be like
in the future? What was the Nine Mile Run like in
the past? I am looking forward to meet you.
Oct. 21, '98
Jimmy
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My name is Askia
Helton. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I'm looking forward to seeing you on the
21st of October. Nine Mile Run is a good program.
I didn't know we were going to help them clean the stream.
That might be fun. Do you like Nine Mile Run?
I wonder what's going to happen in the future. To
help Nine Mile Run we can clean it.
I'm looking forward to seeing you.
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My name is Akeya
Kirby. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. What do you think is happening in the future?
I learned how slag is hardened and builds into a rock.
I also learned why they call it Nine Mile Run. The
reason they call it that is because it is nine miles from
the stadium. What are you going to do to help?
Yosho said she hopes that people could help clean up and
try to make it a greenway. Why do you think Nine Mile
Run is important? I think that it is important because
creatures might want to go there. Well, I can't wait
to see you there!
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My name is Javon
Turner. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. We don't know a lot about Nine Mile Run
so you can tell me what you know and I will tell you what
I know. We know some stuff about nine Mile Run like,
what a watershed is, what slag is, what a brownfield is,
and other stuff. I look forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
Javon Turner.
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My name is Ahmad
Nelson. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in the 6th grade. I just started learning about
Nine Mile Run. When Ms. Goto was here we learned about
a watershed and the mouth of the river. We learned
about slag and brownfields. I heard about slag growth
and non-slag growth. Is the Nine Mile Run fun?
or boring? I heard it was fun. Is the Nine Mile
Run long? Is the Nine Mile Run going to be cold?
I have a thought- how about I bring my mini 110 compact
camera? I can't wait to see you.
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My name is Aimee
Thompson. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Are you happy you are working with the Nine
Mile Run Project? I wonder if we will get to take
a piece of slag to our school? Did they show you the
slag? I thought it was cool. I learned that
Duck Hollow has 18 houses and I learned that Nine Mile Run
is nine miles from the three rivers stadium. I learned
about the slag. I can't wait to see you.
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My name is Kevin
Harper. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. I learned there is a forest and grassland
there. I want to help the Nine Mile Run be a better
place. I want to keep out the trash. I will
have fun making it a better place. Is it going to
be cold, would it be wet and muddy? I learned
about slag brownfields. I learned about watershed
and the Nine Mile Run valley.
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My name is Al-lana
Curington. I go to the Dickson Intermediate School.
I am in 6th grade. I just started learning about Nine
Mile Run. Were you at Nine Mile Run? If you
were, what did you learn? We learned there are only
18 houses in Duck Hollow. We also learned that there
are others projects in the Nine Mile Run project.
Another thing we learned was that a brownfield is
an old abandoned steel mill. Was the project fun?
Did you get dirty? Were you excited about going on
the trip? I am really looking forward to working with
you. I think we will have fun.
Sincerely,
Al-lana Curington.
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