WAPS parent, landscaper helps restore WMS pond

One of the most popular “classrooms” at Winona Middle School got a major facelift thanks to science teacher Amblyn Reisetter and district parent/landscape company owner Gabe Erickson.

The pond at WMS, cared for and cultivated by longtime science teacher John Weaver for many years and used by thousands of science students who collected and analyzed the living things in it, was in need of some major work. It was overrun by cattails and willows, and the water level was decreasing. It may have only been a few years before it disappeared entirely. 

“This was such a great resource for our students,” Reisetter said. “John Weaver put so much work and effort into this, and we really wanted to find a way to preserve it for future students to use.”

That’s when Reisetter reached out to her friend, Erickson, to see what could be done. Erickson is passionate about restoration work. Not only does he own the landscaping company LandSpirit Design, but along with his wife, Erica, he founded Restoravore, an environmental nonprofit focused on restorative land use practices.

Erickson went to work with his hands, helping brush cut the pond, but also with his head, figuring out how to restore this pond back to its original glory. He found a large machinery operator — Dennis Barth — who agreed to do the excavating work for the discounted cost of $500. The excavation happened in late October. Erickson and Barth spent a full day at the middle school, deepening the pond and shaping the banks.

The $500 never made it into Barth’s pocket, either. He donated it to the classroom in another district where his daughter is a student teacher.  

Erickson’s involvement is ongoing. The goal is to completely remove the cattails from the pond and plant new prairie seed to increase plant diversity, and there are plans to manage the ecosystem with prescribed fires. 

A grant from the Foundation for Winona Area Public Schools is covering some of the cost, but Erickson’s time is a donation.

It’s a project that is close to Erickson’s heart in many ways. Not only is the restoration work something he’s passionate about, his kids — and other WAPS students — will benefit from it.

That was made clear on a recent Friday morning, when Erickson visited the school while Reseitter’s classes were doing field observations and collecting crayfish and other samples from the pond. There were laughs and screams and squeals. Few smiles were bigger than the one on Erickson’s face.

“I can see my kids out here, with Amblyn as their teacher, doing the same thing these kids are doing right now,” Erickson said. “That’s going to be fun.”