CENTRAL POINT — As some 60 shovel-wielding Orchard Hill Elementary students headed to a muddy creek bed Friday morning, their excitement grew as thick as the clumps of wet soil beneath their rainboots.

"We would’ve had to do math and reading … and be bored," said 9-year-old Alexis White. "I’m glad I got to come help get all muddy. It’s fun."

These fourth- and fifth-graders came to the "mudfest" to help create a 1.5-acre bio-retention area within the Twin Creeks development off Taylor Road.

Once a steep, blackberry-covered ditch, Griffin Creek was recently rerouted and reshaped under plans by developer Bret Moore for restoring and preserving wetlands.

With the help of consultants from Cascade Earth Sciences, Rogue Valley Council of Governments and Bear Creek Watershed Education Partners, students planted native vegetation to create a bio- retention swale that will use clay, rock and plant roots to help remove pollutants from stormwater runoff before it returns to streams.

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"We want to create the kind of area people would want to include in their daily walk, rather than an ugly square pond at the back of a development," said Cascade Earth Sciences hydrologist Robert Coffan.

"We’re planting where all the little yellow flags are," 9-year-old Tyler Weeks pointed out, shovel in hand, as he attempted to free one of his black rubber boots from a deep puddle.

"It’s, like, a bio well to help clean, where plants help purify the water that runs into the creek. Right now, my favorite part is basically waiting for him to get tired so I can start the digging in the mud," he said, motioning to classmate Cody Holden.

"I’m digging! I’m the escalator!" said Cody. "Um, escal-vator I mean… We don’t really know what we’re doing, except if we don’t treat the water then it’s bad for everybody."

Nearby, a classmate beckoned to Coffan for assistance with a rapidly sinking rubber boot.

"Hey! Who planted this girl?" said Coffan with a laugh.

Included in the minority of students not thrilled to be covered in mud, Alexis attempted to brush the gooey muck off the seat of her pants in a break between plantings.

"I just got my foot stuck and when it came out my sock stayed in the boot and now I’m all muddy!" she said.

The reason for all the dirt, however, was clear to the fourth-grader.

"We’re trying to, like, plant all over so the water can like get cleaner before it goes back into the stream," Alexis said. "I think it’s real cool because the fishes don’t like dirty water."

The curved retention area the kids planted Friday will manage runoff for 12 acres of homes within Twin Creeks. A larger swale nearby will manage runoff for 54 acres.

Crater High School teacher Loi Davis, who recruited a dozen students from Crater’s Rogue Ecology program for the effort, said the project was an important "real-life lesson" in caring for the environment.

"I think it’s great," Davis said. "It’s a little muddy today, but the positive is that now they can come back and see what they helped to accomplish.

"I think it’s wonderful that, while the developer is building all these homes, they’re still committed to maintaining these wetlands."

Moore, who provided pizza and bottled water for the students, said the project was an example of responsible growth management and a way to encourage good stewardship in students.

"It gives them an opportunity to see something that happens out here in the real world and shows them some of the things we can do to protect the creek and the watershed," Moore said.

"The fact is we’re going to have streets and houses. The valley is growing and people have to live somewhere, but if we can mitigate some of the impact, then it’s a good thing to do."

Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at buffypollock@juno.com.