Commissioners and volunteers reported a busy volunteer season, with multiple seed collections, greenhouse renovations, student field trips and informal water‑quality sampling at the slough.

On volunteer workdays, commissioners said East Light and High School visits drew 47 students on Sept. 14 and 40 on Oct. 12. Commissioners reported about 2,300 recorded volunteer hours for the year so far and noted some hours remain uncounted. Members said volunteers and students completed planting, mulching and site maintenance tasks.

The greenhouse crew has been renovating the structure, deep‑cleaning, replacing shelving and improving drainage. Commissioners named several volunteers active in greenhouse work, including Maya, Greg, Anne, Annabelle, Eckard, Maria, Spencer and Mary.

Education and internships: Commissioners said McArthur Middle School will bring sixth‑grade classes (about 160 students) to Comet Prairie for seed collection and processing; sessions are split so students rotate between processing and field collection. Commissioners said Wheeling High School has not scheduled recent trips; one micro‑intern is preparing for Science Olympiad work in entomology.

Seed programs and events: Commissioners reported seed processing and collection events scheduled at Carl Hansen Woods (Poplar Creek Prairie) on Oct. 19 and a PHNRC seed processing and volunteer appreciation day on Nov. 16. Seed collection crews estimated more than 60 pounds of seed collected this season and said weekly seed collection Wednesdays sometimes drew up to 25 volunteers. Commissioners said Poplar Creek Prairie stewards will hold their seed processing the following Sunday.

Monitoring and water quality: Commissioners described an informal macroinvertebrate sampling trip at the slough near Elmhurst Road that produced higher‑quality taxa such as crane fly larvae and damselfly larvae compared with historical samples dominated by lower‑quality organisms. Commissioners described the sampling as educational and not an official Illinois RiverWatch submission; they said full, standardized sampling would require 3–4 hours and expert assistance to submit to the RiverWatch database. Commissioners suggested future sampling at inflow and outflow points (for example, at the culvert into Hillcrest Lake and McDonald Creek) to compare conditions upstream and downstream.

Budget and operations: Commissioners summarized a PHNRC operating budget of nearly $26,000 from the city, park district and donations and reported roughly $7,700 remaining. They said Hillcrest Lake restoration expenses of about $6,000 will be applied next year and that first‑responder funds held about $7,500.

Ending: Commissioners used the update to set upcoming volunteer schedules, confirm seed processing logistics and plan outreach for school partnerships; no formal vote was recorded on programming.