Capstone students approach Orillia City Council
Posted on 01/21/2016

Three Patrick Fogarty Catholic School graduates took on Orillia city council on Monday, January 18, over the state of Ben’s Ditch. It is a trench, dug in 1931, which is supposed to drain the swampy land between Memorial Avenue and West Street, to Lake Simcoe.

The ditch is now filled with invasive species and garbage, polluting the water and rendering the ditch ineffective. Three students – Katie Brown, Makayla Churchill and Ashley Lee – were irked by the state of this ditch when Bob Bowles, local environmentalist, led them on a guided walk in the fall.

Katie, Makayla and Ashley are part of the CAPSTONE program, offered by Patrick Fogarty, which is tailored to recent high school graduates interested in a post-secondary education but are uncertain about which path they want to take.

At the council meeting, the city agreed with the students and vowed to clean up the ditch and build walking trails around it.

Click here to read the article the Orillia Packet & Times wrote on this story.