Kids in the Creek

Students learning at the H20 Flow station.

Every year since 1992, Cascadia has participated in Kids in the Creek, an award winning, outdoor educational field day for local high school students. This annual event is possible through a collaboration of partnerships between the US Fish and Wildlife, USDA Forest Service, City of Wenatchee, Washington State Department of Ecology, and Cascadia Conservation District. For most students, this is their first real field biology learning experience. During their field day, students not only learn about aquatic and riparian ecosystems, they also are given examples of how human land management activities can affect these ecosystems and their watershed’s overall health.

Students making land-use plans at Watershed Wonders.

This May, from Tuesday the 7^th through Thursday the 9^th over 300 students from six different schools across Chelan and Douglas counties came out to the Entiat National Fish Hatchery to don waders, hop in the creek and learn all about steam flow, fish habitat and health, invertebrates found in rivers and streams, water quality, and riparian ecosystems. Each student was able to spend an entire day in the field learning from a group of dedicated natural resource professionals at the six different Kids in the Creek stations. These stations are designed to teach students a variety of environmental lessons, from how and why professionals measure vegetative canopy cover in riparian areas, to simulations of potential worst-case scenario water quality concerns and how these issues could affect fish and other aquatic wildlife. During Watershed Wonders, the final and culminating station of the day, students worked in groups to plan either an agricultural, recreational or urban development on a hypothetical piece of property.

We’d like to thank Cascade Quality Water, and all of the students, teachers, resource professionals, volunteers and partner organizations for their contributions.

To find out more visit Kids in the Creek's website.