Cox Creek Elementary School renovated its nature trail with the help of parents earlier this year, and the latest round of renovations has the beautiful route ready just in time for spring.
CCES Principal Haley Victory said the recent revival of the nature trail began last fall when the school's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) invited interested families to gather for the project. Facility leaders and other parent groups have maintained the trails in the past, but this year they needed more TLC, she said.
Luckily for Victory, she said there was a wonderful group of families who came together with the students to breathe new life into the dilapidated trail.
“I think this is really something that they're providing our school and it's a really great thing that they're trying to do for our boys and something that will really benefit all of our Bulldog students.” Victory said. “I think the next step really is that now that we have rocks on the trail and everything is good, we’re really thinking about how we can continue to grow it.”
Josh Hatfield and his sons Easton and Everett Hatfield are among the many families working hard to restore old nature trails. Josh said it was a great experience to share with his sons and know they were doing something for their classmates. He is passionate about getting kids outside. Cleaning the trails at CCES offers something special for students.
“It's definitely a great thing, especially being their own school and something that they can be proud of and tell their friends and other students,” Hatfield said of getting others involved.
Until recent cleanup work, the old road had been left in a muddy state, leaving flat dirt paths and overgrown trees and shrubbery. But with help from CCES families and a donation of 60 tons of crushed stone from the Bullitt County Stone Department, Hatfield said they were able to save more than $1,000.
Outside of Hatfield, many other families joined in the trail cleanup for Cox Creek students. For Corey Polhameus, he said he and his family have been out cleaning trails several times. Polhameus said he worked with Hatfield to repair areas of the trail that had been badly washed out.
“We carried a lot of stones, and that's mainly what I did. We carried a lot of stones and spread them all over the trail,” he said of his involvement. “The kids would go out and check on me, because I was there a lot.”
Cory Noakes said she knew about the trail before she and her sons pitched in to help, and said it had a lot of potential. But Noakes said she is excited to be able to bring her children to volunteer opportunities and help out in the community.
He said there is more potential for the nature trail and the school grounds behind it by combining the efforts of the whole family.
“We took the tractor and cleared everything out again and cleared a path to the field,” Noakes said. “…a lot of staff didn’t know that the back field actually belonged to the school. Once we found out it belonged to the school and it was all part of the property, things changed a little bit. Now they can go down, they can read books, they can see nature, and they have a clear path to get there.”
With spring just around the corner, Victory said she couldn't be more grateful for the efforts of the entire family in bringing the trail back to life. Looking to the future, she said she is eager for teachers and others to use the space once the weather warms up and see what it can do in the future.
“When you walk the trail, it’s acres of land,” she said. “What can we put in that wide open space that the kids will benefit from? That's kind of our next brainstorming project.”
