The Most Cherished Ideals of Dear Old Upper St. Clair

Upper St. Clair, a picturesque western Pennsylvania township located in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, has a reputation for affluence. Indeed, Upper St. Clair Township is full of pretty homes—some of them quite large—with well-maintained front yards. It is also home to a rather significant number of financially successful individuals; people working in traditionally high paying jobs like plastic surgery and law are well represented in Upper St. Clair. For these reasons, certain persons in surrounding townships have come to regard Upper St. Clair as a land of snobbish wealth. Even at scholastic events, it is not entirely uncommon for Upper St. Clair students to be referred to as “rich USC kids” by children from neighboring townships; as a former Upper St. Clair student, I have been on the receiving end of such comments on more than one occasion. However, most Upper St. Clair residents realize (or at least hope) that this stereotype is meant to be more teasing than caustic. For Upper St. Clair’s inhabitants know very well that their community does not focus solely on wealth and appearances. While it is true that the authorities of Upper St. Clair Township place emphasis on visually pleasing dwellings, the township attaches even greater importance to the values of education, respect for nature, and community.

Almost any denizen of Upper St. Clair will attest to the fact that our township values well-kept, presentable homes and yards. Other townships may simply hope that their residents will choose to maintain visually pleasing abodes; Upper St. Clair, on the other hand, has certain regulations. For instance, there is a rule for how high the grass in a front yard may grow before the owner of said grass must mow his or her lawn. The township is very thorough in its quest for promoting visually pleasing residences, and therefore it does not stop at monitoring the height of the grass growing in people’s yards. Upper St. Clair is very specific about the types of fencing that residents may erect in their yards and where that fencing may be installed. Fencing in any part of one’s front yard is generally not allowed, since such an act may cause the individual’s house to be obscured. Where fences are present, they tend to be wooden or wrought iron as opposed to chain link. Although these regulations may at first appear to be a bit excessive, they really do help to make Upper St. Clair a beautiful, pleasant place to live. On a personal level, these regulations have taught me the importance of caring for one’s property.

Amazingly, the township’s love of beauty is exceeded by its passion for promoting its other major values, particularly education. Indeed, Upper St. Clair is as well known for its excellent education system as it is for its affluence. The township pours money into its educational facilities in order to ensure that Upper St. Clair students can receive a solid education. Almost all of the schools in Upper St. Clair are newly renovated and are constantly being endowed with the latest in educational technology. When I was in high school, for instance, the school district provided nearly every classroom with a very expensive new learning device known as a Promethean Board. These interactive “Pro boards,” as they came to be known, were essentially large computer screens that teachers could connect to their laptops and use to display information stored in their computers. Using a special pen, instructors were able to write and erase on the Promethean boards, and they could also generate graphs and tables instantly. In almost no time, the Promethean board became an extremely useful classroom tool for our teachers. Upper St. Clair teachers, incidentally, also tend to be top-notch. The school district puts a considerable amount of effort into finding passionate educators who have a deep, lively interest in their chosen field of study. Most of these teachers have high standards for their students, but they are willing to work hard to help students meet those standards. Upper St. Clair also does its best to ensure that teachers prepare students for life after graduation by familiarizing them with such processes as thinking critically, writing research papers, and delivering speeches. This emphasis on concrete education is evident in Upper St. Clair school district’s high graduation rate, college acceptance rate, PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) test scores, and average SAT scores. Upper St. Clair is considered to be one of the foremost school districts in the state of Pennsylvania; the hard work that allows for this ranking is a clear reflection of how highly Upper St. Clair values education. This dedication provides Upper St. Clair students with the foundation they need in order to become good college students and productive members of the working community. As a graduate of Upper St. Clair school district, I can attest to the lasting, positive impact that the USC school system tends to leave on its students. My years of interaction with passionate teachers have made me interested in learning, and the academic skills I learned through the Upper St. Clair school district have already proven to be useful in college.

Upper St. Clair values respect for nature nearly as highly as it values education, and the township puts considerable effort into promoting this respect for wildlife and the environment. At Upper St. Clair’s Boyce Mayview Park, people can adventure through a beautiful wetlands ecosystem flourishing with impressive plants and animals. In order to encourage Upper St. Clair children and their families to visit the wetlands, the school district sends students on field trips to explore the wetlands and hosts various summer activities that involve learning about the different forms of wildlife that make up the wetlands ecosystem. The USC school district also promotes regard for nature by sending all of its sixth grade students on a field trip to a wooded, mountainous part of Pennsylvania known as Deer Valley. During this trip, Upper St. Clair kids participate in numerous nature-related activities that include dissecting and analyzing owl pellets, determining the pH of a large lake, hiking, learning about different types of trees, and simply sitting quietly and listening to the sounds of a Pennsylvania forest. Although my own Deer Valley experience was cursed with seemingly endless rain, I thoroughly enjoyed being among the various forms of Pennsylvania wildlife and developed a greater respect for the dynamics of nature. The township also encourages interest in the various wooded areas throughout Upper St. Clair itself by installing trails that allow residents to walk through the woods and appreciate their beauty. As a child, I spent hours wandering these wooded trails with my friends; our woodland adventures (which frequently led to close encounters with deer, turkeys, snakes, and other wildlife) increased my affinity for animals and deepened my appreciation of nature in general. As my own experiences clearly indicate, the township’s efforts help its inhabitants to develop a greater respect for nature and wildlife, and its nature-related events also serve as enjoyable community activities.

The public activities that Upper St. Clair offers its residents reflect yet another of the township’s most important values: community and family. The township promotes this value with as much enthusiasm as it does education and interest in nature. The month of May is marked by Community Day, a huge event complete with games, a parade, home cooked foods, and various contests for pet owners and their animal friends. Through such township-sponsored events, Upper St. Clair dwellers are able to form new friendships with people they may not have met otherwise. Upper St. Clair’s emphasis on community and family also manifests in various recreational facilities. Throughout Upper St. Clair are parks and playgrounds erected by the township in an effort to encourage interaction and friendships among its inhabitants. However, Upper St. Clair has not stopped at building playgrounds. In the summer of 2009, the township finished constructing a state-of-the-art community recreation center. This immaculate new facility is complete with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, running tracks, a large basketball court, a party room, several outdoor sports fields, and the latest exercise equipment. The swimming pools and sports fields have already become popular meeting places for friends and families, and weekly exercise and dance classes provide additional opportunities for community members to meet and interact. By bringing all these people together, Upper St. Clair’s interest in promoting community has helped to build a stronger, friendlier township.

Although it is certainly true that Upper St. Clair values well-kept houses and yards, the township is not solely concerned with superficial ideals; in reality, Upper St. Clair is even more interested in upholding the values of education, interest in nature, and community. The township’s emphasis on these respected values makes Upper St. Clair a pleasant and desirable place to live. Growing up in Upper St. Clair has caused me to adopt all of these values and to emphasize them in my own life. I am now a person who firmly believes in the importance of responsibility, learning, respect for nature, and community. These are universally important values, and any individual would do well to uphold the ideals that Upper St. Clair treasures. Far from being a community of stifling snobbery, Upper St. Clair is, in truth, a friendly township that presents its residents with life-shaping values and a wealth of positive opportunities.

Maintaining Balance: The True Nature of Wildlife

To some people, the term wildlife is a charming one, a word that evokes romantic images of trumpeting elephants, roaring lions, howling wolves, breaching whales. However, these individuals frequently live side by side with people who—thinking of the deer that habitually ruin their tulips or the coyotes that ransack their garbage—tend to regard wildlife as an annoyance. Still others think of wildlife as a sort of expendable resource. By dictionary definition, the term "wildlife" simply refers to “Animals and plants living in their natural environments” (Webster’s Dictionary, 436). Yet there remains an overall lack of agreement on the true definition of this term, and in light of the recent environmental movement, this disagreement has escalated into an important global issue. In today’s world, environmentalists clash with individuals who exploit wildlife for commercial purposes; these conflicts are clearly grounded in contrasting definitions of the term wildlife. In spite of this disagreement, however, the world is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the various forms of wildlife are part of a balanced existence. Numerous scientific studies have unveiled the important role that wildlife plays in balanced ecosystems (which consist of interacting organisms and their environments) throughout the world, and still more studies are proving that humans are not immune to the negative consequences of disrupting that balance. Since these findings have such important implications for mankind, the basic dictionary definition for wildlife must be expanded. Wildlife is not only plants and animals living in nature; it is different types of undomesticated organisms that are all important elements of world ecosystems.

In every ecosystem, diverse forms of wildlife interact in a manner that upholds a balanced community. Some organisms help to maintain an ecosystem’s balance by ensuring that a population of organisms is able to reproduce. Bees and certain other insects, for instance, help to pollinate plants as they move from flower to flower collecting nectar. Without the aid of the bees, it is difficult for certain plants to effectively fertilize others; for this reason, many plants depend on bees and other insects in order to produce offspring. The plants themselves provide a sufficient supply of oxygen for the oxygen-breathing inhabitants of the ecosystem. These organisms, in turn, exhale carbon dioxide, a gas that plants utilize as they grow and produce food for themselves. Even though they may not be very dramatic, these passive, gentle relations are a crucial element of maintaining the various forms of wildlife in an ecosystem.

However, peaceful exchanges are not the only forms of balancing interaction in an ecosystem; there are also forms of wildlife that help preserve an ecosystem’s balance in a more aggressive manner. These organisms service the ecosystem as a whole by preventing other forms of wildlife from becoming too numerous. The cougar (or mountain lion) is a form of wildlife that exemplifies this beneficial predation. Cougars feed primarily on deer, and as a result they help to keep deer populations—which proliferate quickly—in check. If not for the intervention of cougars and other predatory wildlife, a growing deer herd would consume and deplete more and more of the ecosystem’s plant life. If such a trend were to continue, the environment would eventually reach a point where it could no longer support deer or other herbivores. Sharks, tigers, wolves, killer whales, and other predatory wildlife play a role similar to that of the cougar, helping to maintain balance and a healthy environment in their respective ecosystems. These environmental dynamics provide insight into the intricate relationships between the various forms of wildlife and the ecosystems that they comprise. Each form of wildlife—plant and animal—plays a part in upholding the entire ecosystem, and the various types of wildlife in an ecosystem depend on each other for survival. For this reason, the removal of any of these forms of wildlife can have a detrimental effect on all of the ecosystem’s other inhabitants—including humans.

The important role that wildlife plays in every world ecosystem is clearly reflected by the negative consequences that ensue whenever a given form of wildlife is largely removed from an ecosystem. In many cases, human actions cause these detrimental changes. For example, cougars and wolves once preyed on Pennsylvania deer herds, helping to prevent the development of excessively large deer populations. However, humans hunted both of these predatory species to local extinction, and as a result, Pennsylvania white-tailed deer herds have become disproportionately large. This overpopulation has placed increasing stress on the deer’s environment, and the humans that are part of the deer’s ecosystems have also been negatively affected. As Pennsylvania deer populations have continued to grow, there has been a corresponding increase in deer-related car accidents. Needless to say, these accidents are a serious problem for both the deer and the people, and they are a testament to the important role that all forms of wildlife (particularly cougars and wolves, in this case) play in world ecosystems.

The effects of excessive sealing provide another illustration of the fact that all forms of wildlife are important elements of world ecosystems. In certain marine ecosystems, commercial sealing has decreased seal populations to such an extent that killer whales, which normally prey on seals, must begin eating sea lions and sea otters. As killer whale predation begins to cut down sea otter populations, sea urchins (one of the most important elements of the sea otter’s diet) become more numerous. In turn, the proliferating sea urchins deplete ocean kelp forests, and the ecosystem suddenly becomes unsuitable for fish species that depend on the kelp for survival and breeding. When the afflicted fish are species that are normally harvested by humans, this chain of disruptions ends up having a harmful effect on the human fishing industry. These unfortunate events make it clear that when humans define "wildlife" as an expendable resource, mankind often ends up paying an unpleasant price.

The ramifications of excessive hunting have already shown that negative consequences occur when humans fail to define "wildlife" as a significant element of world ecosystems; for this reason, it is important that mankind define "wildlife" not merely as a bunch of plants and animals living in nature, but as a group of organisms that each play a crucial part in upholding ecosystems around the globe. Human beings will be doing a service to themselves and to all other life forms by recognizing this expanded definition and by choosing to respect wildlife, particularly by practicing moderation in hunting and in harvesting trees. If humans wish to maintain a healthy planet, they must choose to emulate the world’s wildlife by helping to maintain balanced ecosystems.












Works Cited
Kauffman, Liz, ed. Webster’s Dictionary. Watermill Press, 1997.