Cascadia Conservation District Receives Grant for Watershed Education

In partnership with the Wenatchee School District’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) afterschool program and local salmon recovery nonprofit Cascade Fisheries, the Cascadia Conservation District (CCD) has received grant funding to provide afterschool and summer programs. The three organizations will provide exciting hands-on learning activities for students to explore and investigate the Wenatchee River watershed. The funding comes from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and supported by the U.S. Department of Education. 

 

The three partner organizations will deliver authentic STEM experiences that use components of the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) model along with other NOAA assets and expertise. 

 

CCD’s environmental educator, Kirk Beckendorf said, “We are excited to work with our partners to provide activities that will get Wenatchee students into the Wenatchee River watershed- from the headwaters down to the Columbia. Throughout the program, students will be investigating the local watershed through 5 lenses- Family, Farming, Fish, Forest and Fun.” We want to help students develop a personal connection to the watershed and develop an attitude of environmental stewardship. 

 

Maura Danforth, Project Director for Wenatchee School District’s 21st CCLC program said, “The After School Program team is thrilled to expand our partnership with Cascadia Conservation District through the Watershed STEM Education Grant. By engaging students in hands-on afterschool activities and summer field projects, where they will have the opportunity to explore our local watershed, we hope to foster a love of the outdoors and a connection to the Wenatchee River Watershed in our students. Additionally, the training and mentoring components of this project will build our 21st CCLC staff’s skills and knowledge in natural resource conservation and provide them with the tools and confidence to educate and promote environmental stewardship among our fourth and fifth-grade participants from Columbia and John Newbery Elementary Schools.”

 

Jen Herdmann, Program Specialist for Cascade Fisheries adds, “we are honored to collaborate with CCD and the 21st CCLC in working with students to explore new places, celebrate local culture, and find a role in protecting the health of the Wenatchee River watershed through inquiry and place-based learning. The foundation of our organization’s efforts to recover threatened and endangered bull trout, steelhead, and Chinook salmon is building relationships between people and our finned neighbors. Making these types of connections early in life through MWEE programs will lead to a more sustainable future for our native fishes and the way of life they provide us that makes this region so special."