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!!

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.

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. 

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. 

  1. What do you think about this field trip?
  2. Do you know about Duck Hollow?  They only have 18 houses and they're right by the slag dump.
  3. 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.
  4. 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. 

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. 

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. 

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 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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! 

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 

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. 

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! 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.