Linden-Kildare students help plant 750 saplings

By Ben Woods
bwoods@casscountynow.com

Linden-Kildare high school students Lane Crenshaw, Shelby Haley, Codie Conditt, Elizabeth Strong, and Kinley Harris planted 750 hardwood seedlings in an area that the Army Corp of Engineers needed replanted with water resistant species.
The hardwood species planted can survive being flooded six months out of the year.
 The terrain was very rough but the students had a great attitude and worked very hard. This was part of the Paddlefish project with Gary Endsley, Director of Collins Academy. 
The Paddlefish Reintroduction Education Initiative is an innovative science enrichment program that networks schools with scientists conducting special studies related to the reintroduction of the American Paddlefish to Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake in East Texas. 
The overreaching theme of the Paddlefish Project is environmental stewardship. The Collins Academy works through schools and communities focusing on projects that will benefit the environment and improve habitat for all species. 
The Collins Academy, located in Jefferson, is a program of the Today Foundation with Richard H. Collins as president.