Several years ago, I began collaborating with Kellie Westervelt of the American Littoral Society to create a service-learning project that would involve students from my composition courses in the ongoing restoration effort at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.  As our effort took off and was well received by students, other faculty members began hearing about the work and began participating as well.  Currently there are a total of five of faculty from the InterAmerican Campus involved in one way or another at Cape Florida.  Over the years, more than 400 students have participated.  Their cumulative service hours are in the thousands.

 

Click on the thumbnail images for a better view of some of the work we do while at Cape Florida.  The writing is from students who have participated in the last couple of semesters.

"Weave real connections, create real nodes, build real houses.
Live a life you can endure: Make love that is loving.
Keep tangling and interweaving and taking more in,
a thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but to us
interconnected with rabbit runs and burrows and lairs."

~Marge Piercy, "Seven of Pentacles"

 

Before I begin my work on this sacred land, I listen to Prof. Gonzalez as he gives us a lesson on the history of Cape Florida. While he speaks, I begin to wonder about the battles between the Seminoles and the Europeans. He explains how the lighthouse served as a beacon for the sailors traveling to the area and the battles that took place at this historical site. As he continues, my mind drifts away to the past and I wonder, did these people, that lived and fought so long ago ever imagine how the land would be or it's inhabitants? I feel the breeze, take in the sights…as I begin pulling out non- native plants, I also become a part of history, a battle with no bloodshed, but as enduring as those in the past. ~A.G.

…The Cape Florida experience helped me to recover that part of me that I thought was long lost.

This is something that I’m never going to forget or regret, because, yes, I confess, I complained a lot but there was a moment when I stopped and looked around--right then I saw all of the things I was missing and the connections that this had to my past life--a time of my life during which I was immeasurably happy. Our work was also very beneficial for the community. ~Y.A.

 

 

I don't understand very well what's the connection we need to have, but there was a line in the poem that left me thinking, " Sometimes they grow underground.” I know that deep down, sometimes we maybe don't realize it, but we make connections all the time.

I make connections and sometimes try to see the relation of some things with others, and many times I do this without realizing that I'm making connections.

What do you guys think about this? Am I crazy?

~A.S.

A.S. is not crazy! He was referring to Marge Piercy's poem "The Seven of Pentacles." If we are fortunate, we are making connections all of the time!

While working in Cape Florida, I found a spot in which I can see all the beauty it has to offer. I sat by the ocean and started listening carefully to the waves hitting the shore.

I looked around and just saw all the trees, birds, the lighthouse and thought how beautiful all this is.

I also thought of how interesting it is that the lighthouse that I was looking at right in front of me had been their since the 1800's. Working at Cape Florida helped me develop my instinct to help and work with nature and the environment. ~N.F.

To learn more about the Cape Florida Project, feel free to contact me at cgonzal3@mdcc.edu.

 

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