Tahoma Junior High 9th grade students from Cary Collins’ Summit History class were
given an assignment to develop a plan that would help to alleviate the amount of
pollution draining into Puget Sound from local rivers and streams. Two students,
Tyler Gage and Amanda Soushek, went one step further and put their plan into action.
They researched, planned, and raised donations to construct a rain garden at Tahoma
Junior High.
The rain garden was designed to cut down by as much as 30 percent the amount of
pollution draining into nearby creeks. The rain garden will allow rainwater runoff
from the school’s roof to be absorbed into the ground, reducing erosion, water pollution,
and flooding in nearby creeks, streams, and rivers.
Tyler and Amanda constructed a 20' X 14' rain garden with a large variety of plants.
This project would not have been possible without the very generous support of our
local businesses. Tyler, Amanda, and Tahoma Junior High would like to give a huge
thank you to Home Depot, Girard Resources and Recycling LLC in Covington, and MVG,
LLC Commercial & Residential Construction and Landscaping for their extremely generous
donations and their commitment to supporting education, the environment, and volunteer
work in our community.
