As part of an Earth Day project, students volunteered to rake leaves and clean up the park for nearly two hours Friday afternoon.

According to high school math teacher Tina Lutz, nearly every student in the school was out serving the Portage community — either at the park, building a dam at the nearby Kane Run stream for an upcoming youth fishing derby, cleaning the Portage Railroad Monument on the corner of routes 53 and 160 or on the school’s campus, where an outdoor cafe was stationed.

“We’re trying to make the park beautiful, so whenever kids come down here to play or people come here to walk, you don’t have all these leaves and you’re not tripping,” Lutz said, noting the students, like senior Kyra Bobolsky, take pride in their community.

“It’s pretty cool to do community stuff like this,” Bobolsky said while raking leaves, adding she’s participated in the clean-up festivities in prior years and enjoys giving back.

Portage Area High School senior Kyra Bobolsky rakes leaves Friday afternoon at Crichton McCormick Park. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

Senior Chris Slebodnick said he had a lot of fun cleaning up the park for the first time this year.

“It helps the community out and it’s just a nice way for us to be outside, enjoy ourselves and give back,” Slebodnick said. “I enjoy raking up leaves and yard work in general. It’s quite enjoyable.”

Portage Borough Councilman Perry Scarton, who also serves as the project director at the park, said cleaning up the 55-acre park is a great project for the students to undertake.

By removing leaves and twigs, the students are getting the park “back in shape” so grass can grow in certain areas in time for the Memorial Day opening.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Scarton said. “We really appreciate all of the teachers and administrators up at the Portage Area High School and all the young men and women who come down here and do what they do.”

Portage Area High School senior Asher Fieni (left) holds a rainbow trout his friend, Nick, swooped up with his hands while building a dam in Kane Run for the May 17 youth fishing derby. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

According to Scarton, Portage Borough, Portage Township and the Portage Area Sewer Authority also brought their equipment down to assist the students with their cleanup efforts.

In the nearby Kane Run stream, about six students, dressed in specialized outdoor gear, stacked a pile of rocks together and built dams for the upcoming youth fishing derby.

Minutes after entering the water, senior Asher Fieni held up a rainbow trout for his teacher, William Bearer, to see.

According to Fieni, his friend, Nick, swooped the trout up with his hands and gave it to him to put back into the water.

“The fish wasn’t doing too well. My buddy there caught it with his hands and handed it off to me, and I put it back in the water there,” Fieni said, adding he enjoyed helping members of the Traditional Anglers of Pennsylvania build the dams and stock the stream with trout.

Portage Area High School senior Chris Slebodnick makes a stack of leaves Friday afternoon at Crichton McCormick Park. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

“It’s for a good cause,” he said. “We like to help these guys out as much as we can just to make it a lot easier on them so they don’t have to do this.”

Pat Pfeilstucker, the group’s treasurer, said he appreciates the students’ work.

The derby lasts from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 17, and is open to kids 12 and under, Pfeilstucker said, adding kids who register on the day of the event will receive a free hot dog, a bag of chips and soda.

Anyone who catches a palomino gets to choose whether he or she wants a basketball or a soccer ball as their prize, he said.

Lutz said she attends the derby every year with her grandson.

“It is so nice,” she said. “They have success, they catch fish and it’s a nice thing that the (students) help out with that.”

Bearer echoed Lutz’s comments that the students take pride in their community. For many of them, the students will stay in the Portage Area for most of their lives, he said.

“It’s always good for the kids to get outside, especially when they’re helping the community,” Bearer said.

Dennis Beck, the chairman of the Trout Run Watershed Association, organizes the cleanup with Portage Area Superintendent Pete Noel every year.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, students used to clean the streets of Portage Borough as part of the project. But they’ve stayed in Crichton McCormick Park every year since the cleanup was reinstated a couple years ago, he said.

Beck said he gives an environmental award to the students each year and thanks them for their help with cleaning up the park.

Although some students may not realize the difference they make, Beck said he uses the 1,000 volunteer hours he gets from their help to assist him with obtaining grants.

“Because of your little hour and a half, we applied for a grant to expand an acid mine drainage system in 2012. We got a grant to expand my system for $538,000 in 2020,” Beck said. “Your little thing might seem little to you, but every little bit counts.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.