Author: jreid47

Service Blog Post #6: Winding Down

by jreid47

Since I am not a Georgia native, I had no idea what to expect when Mrs. Palmer, the founder of Atlanta Creek League, suggested that we should explore Clear Creek, which is a part of the Chattahoochee River watershed. It was a fun experience to learn more about the creek and connect with those on the BeltLine who were not aware of which creek they were near. However, even though we were able to have fun, we were also able to find heavily littered areas in the city. One prominent example was the area under Piedmont Avenue Bridge in which I have an active case with the city for litter removal.  

Regarding the goals that were set out, Mrs. Palmer and I decided to set our focus on outreaching to local communities and businesses to be more conscious of water pollution as well as informing them of which creek one is located nearby by entering their address on the website. The act of easily locating which creek an individual lives near is the most interesting aspect of Atlanta Creek League due to the shocked expressions people have when they are able to name something they have always looked at. As mentioned before, we were able to meet with people on the BeltLine and it was humorous to see the sheer surprise on their faces. Moreover, not only is this aspect interesting since it takes a short amount of time, but it can also provide unexpected outcomes since an individual will be able to take the first steps in becoming involved in watershed issues and in contacting organizations that are dedicated to their creeks. 

My service assignment is informing my final project since I am getting a firsthand account of what I am promoting, a promotion of interest in one’s local creek, for my digital brochure. It is also informing my final project since I am mapping out where Clear Creek is and noting how crucial its protection is for Atlanta’s water to be safe. 

I would highly recommend Atlanta Creek League to anyone. In fact, I have already recommended the organization to individuals in my other organizations due to its important work and because the people I have worked with are extremely nice as well as caring. I would also recommend it due to the founder being highly efficient and passionate in her work. 

I do believe that I will dedicate more time in the future to serving this organization as I have made many connections with the people I have helped, and met, since we have a common cause. Additionally, I will dedicate more time to this organization since their work directly affects me as I have to use Atlanta’s water system that obtains its water through the Chattahoochee River and is connected to the surrounding creeks, which highlights its importance even more.

Introduction: Jazanae Reid

by jreid47

Hello everyone! My name is Jazanae Reid, and I am a junior majoring in History. I selected this course as it seemed the most interesting since I was not too familiar with the concept of service learning. Also, since most of my academic career featured in person classes, I thought that this particular class would provide me another profound perspective of the world through helping and learning from outside sources that are not involved with standard academia. One of the matters that I have learned about concerned the different narratives of what constitutes Nature and whether it involves humans, as just a symbol of intervention as well as being a part of it, or not. We also touched on how crucial examples and, especially, connections are concerning an author’s argument about nature. For example, while some of the works that we have read had amazing insights that linked the natural world to the human world, other works had left much to be desired since it did not engage with the audience that could be understandable, such as focusing on personal narratives rather than generalities within a broad concept.

My community partner is the Atlanta Creek League. The organization is involved with the protection of creeks in various areas around Atlanta and would like to push for people within those communities to be involved in this protection as well. My organization is also involved in competitions that encourage actions of conservation for these waterways. I am mostly interested in the Atlanta Creek League since I have previous experience of helping numerous community leaders in protecting bodies of water while I lived in Virginia, such as at the Chesapeake Bay and several beaches. Furthermore, I was fascinated in this organization because I wanted to learn more about the precautions a large city must take to ensure water safety since my community in Virginia, while small, is also facing some issues concerning water pollution. One of the goals that I am excited about is to see some change being developed due to my work within the organization. Even though it is a big task to accomplish, I am hoping to see some improvement on metro Atlanta’s waterways. Similar to what my community partner mentioned, I hope to learn more about the watershed issues that are prominent in metro Atlanta since I am not too familiar with this city. I also hope to learn more about which actions I can do as an individual would work best to protect the city’s waterways since I am a firm believer that even small things can make a big difference.