Submitted by Nisqually River Foundation
From March 14 – 17, hundreds of student delegates from schools around the South Puget Sound, Chehalis, and Nisqually Watersheds will join the 29th Annual Student GREEN Congress. Their goal will be to share field research results about their local streams and use those findings to recommend stewardship actions for the streams and rivers in the communities near their schools and homes.
Student MC’s will welcome Congress attendees, followed by a keynote delivered by Emily McCartan and Jack McDermott of Long Live the Kings, whose mission is to restore wild salmon and steelhead and support sustainable fishing in the Pacific Northwest. When a young steelhead leaves its birth river to start its journey to the ocean, it has to survive an obstacle course of challenges, from polluted water to barriers to predators. For more than 10 years, scientists have been using tracking devices to learn about their migration and what we can do to help more fish survive. Long Live the Kings took that data from real fish and turned it into a game where students can experience what it’s like to Survive the Sound.
Classes will play a game based on this real data to learn all about steelhead, their watersheds, and how scientists use data to look for patterns, problems, and solutions. Each class will get its own fish to root for, and learn how their actions to improve habitat and water quality can make a difference in how many survive.
South Sound GREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network), the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, and the Nisqually River Education Project host Student GREEN Congress each year as the culmination of water quality monitoring programs in classes around local watersheds. This is the first year all three watershed education programs will be co-creating the event. Student delegates ranging from 4th grade through middle school will participate in “State of the Rivers” sessions, analyzing water quality data and developing action plans to improve their local streams and rivers. Students will also learn from local experts dealing with today’s environmental issues and take part in hands-on, science-based educational workshops, including salmon dissections, building plankton prototypes, learning plant medicines, how to help wildlife, and much more.
Since Student GREEN Congress began in 1992, thousands of students and hundreds of teachers have used hands-on learning to make a meaningful difference in their own backyards. The event is supported by a robust group of community partners who make this educational experience possible. In addition to support from Thurston Conservation District, Capital Region ESD 113, and Nisqually River Foundation, this year’s GREEN Congress partners include the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Nisqually Reach Nature Center, Surfrider Foundation, Wolf Haven International, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, the Pacific Shellfish Institute, Puget Sound Estuarium, City of Olympia, the South Sound chapter of the Sierra Club, along with local artists, scientists, and educators committed to environmental stewardship.
South Sound GREEN is a watershed education program in Thurston County that educates, empowers and connects about 50 classrooms and 1,200 students in watershed studies annually. Through this program, participants engage in science and engineering practices related to water quality in the South Sound. For more information, visit the South Sound GREEN website.
Since 1999, the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium has raised the awareness of teachers and students about water quality issues in the Chehalis basin. Students are given the opportunity to learn about the environment and are provided with hands-on experience in water quality monitoring, riparian restoration, and other projects that help protect and improve water quality. For more information, visit the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium website.
The Nisqually River Project (NREP) is a watershed education program housed by the Nisqually River Foundation. NREP implements key elements of the Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan, providing students service learning projects that link Washington State learning goals and standards with local environmental issues, inspiring stewardship of the Nisqually Watershed and the world. For more information, visit the Nisqually River Project website.
