WATER TRACKERS: 
Middle Schools Take Learning to the Field
                                                                                  (article written Spring, 2006)

Do you know where your rain run-off goes?  Thanks to a three-year $75,000 "Learn and Serve" grant awarded to Rockbridge County Public Schools, area middle schoolers are actively involved in investigations to find out.  As part of innovative partnership between RCPS and Boxerwood Nature Center, as well as Lexington City Schools and Buena Vista City Schools, all 350 area sixth graders and their teachers have been taking learning out of the classroom and into the field.  The interdisciplinary program emphasizes hands-on investigations along creeks and rivers near each participating school.  

In a unique twist, the program also incorporates service-learning as part of its instructional methodology.  “Students not only learn about local water systems,” explains Elise Sheffield, project coordinator and Education Steward for Boxerwood, but “in many cases they also design and carry out water quality improvement projects related to their findings.  The program fosters both intellectual inquiry and responsible citizenship in a real-world context.  It’s a wonderful next step for the Rockbridge area, whose elementary schools have already been actively involved with Boxerwood activities for the past five years." 

The middle school initiative, entitled “Slow the Flow,” is funded by the Virginia Department of Education through the federal “Serve and Learn” program.  "The grant process was competitive,” notes Dr. Alice Waddell, Grants Administrator for RCPS, “but unique among applicants was the cooperation of three different school systems.  All of us here share the same Maury River watershed, so it was a natural collaboration.  I’m thrilled for the opportunities for all our students and teachers.”

“Those opportunities are rich and meaningful,” notes Waddell. “The program’s first season features day-long watershed investigations for all four middle schools.”  “It’s training both the students and their teachers,” adds Sheffield.  “Water quality concepts feature prominently in the sixth grade science standards of learning, so the students are already getting a solid foundation in their classroom.  What this program does is make that learning applicable to the specific area we all call home.  There is no textbook about our local area. This program makes that link for the kids and especially for the teachers—and that’s a great investment for all of us.”

So what have the schools been up to?  The sixth grade at Parry McCluer Middle School has already taken to the field twice.  As complement to their science studies about wastewater management, the entire grade and all their teachers recently participated in a day-long “Sewer Treatment Plant Tour.” “It was a well executed plan and worked beautifully,” notes Sheffield, explaining one bus of 45 kids began the day with an insiders’ tour of the Buena Vista Wastewater Treatment Plant (B.V. WWTP) while the other bus carried 45 students to Boxerwood; the two groups switched for the afternoon.  “It was rich learning experience,” explained Sheffield.  “The staff at the B.V. WWTP did a great job introducing the kids not only to the mechanics and hydraulics of the facility, but also to  water quality monitoring and treatment process and how the treatment of wastewater reduces pollutants to the Chesapeake Bay.  The kids were amazed that the B.V. WWTP alone cleans more than a million gallons of wastewater a day.  They definitely developed a new appreciation for the facility and the very dedicated staff and their commitment to protecting the environment. The Director of Wastewater Treatment, Trina Mastran, notes, “It is an important initiative to educate our children in the areas of both water and wastewater treatment practices as it relates to the environment. We were pleased to collaborate in this program with the City Schools and Boxerwood.”

At the Boxerwood part of the tour, the students extended their learning by looking at several ways wastewater can be cleaned using natural principles.  The tour included an investigation of the Boxerwood wetlands, whose waste-loving plants naturally filters pollutants from storm run-off.  The student also did experiments with Boxerwood’s rain gardens (constructed rain catchment areas with plants that filter pollution), and toured NEWTS, the center’s wastewater treatment facility that incorporates a constructed wetlands and other biological features as part of state-approved treatment system. “Students saw some common elements on both parts of the tour, “ noted Sheffield, “I think it really helped them see how we are all connected, that wherever we live in Rockbridge County, we all have stake in keeping the Maury River clean.”

And just how clean is the Maury River?  On April 3, the Buena Vista students returned to the field to find out.  Traveling to Glen Maury Park on a beautiful spring day, the 90 students broke into six teams for hands-on investigations with environmental resource professionals.   Working with scientist Tara Sieber of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the sixth-graders donned boots and waded into the shallows of the river for macro-invertebrate sampling, a method of determining water quality by the kinds of aquatic critters living there.  Others learned how to spot and prevent soil erosion with conservation specialist Jenny Templeton of Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation Board.  Still others trekked across the hillsides alongside forester Kenny Mohler.  Representing the Virginia Department of Forestry, Mohler also brought some saplings grown from Jamestown oaks: in the spirit of service-learning, the students not only learned about the importance of trees in preserving water quality, they planted some too.

What was the most interesting part of the day? In an end-of-day survey, the student responses were as varied as the activities: “Going in the creek and catching organisms ,” said one, “How dirty water gets if you don’t plant plants to suck up the water,” wrote another, “Seeing if there were nitrates in the stream . . .I didn’t realize how much rivers and streams affect the quality of the Atlantic Ocean,” added another, For some, it was more simple:  “What’s in the forest because I’ve never took time to look at how great nature is.” 

            PMMS is not the only school whose students are busy learning about their local watershed.  Sixth graders at Rockbridge Middle School will soon be traveling to McCormick’s farm (April 17) to monitor the quality of Marl Creek. Their peers at Maury River Middle School will have investigations of their own along Woods Creek.  Students at Lylburn Downing Middle School, already investigating increased flooding along Woods Creek, will soon pursue their investigation back to their own backyard.  This program actually provides two levels of engagement,” explains Sheffield, “The first level is the by-the-river investigation, which we’re doing with all the schools.  The second level, which we’re piloting with LDMS, is back on school grounds.  The intent is for students to apply knowledge from the field back to their own run-off issues.  As investigators, they should now have the skills to identify and remediate a water quality problem that has its beginning in their own school yard.  Boxerwood will continue to assist LDMS in identifying and implementing that project.  We look forward to offering similar support to the other schools during year two and three of the grant—there’s a lot to do, and a lot of fun and meaningful learning for everyone.”