By Natalia Bayona, Watershed Educator
Students from Winchester, Everett, and Somerville took their ideas outside of the bounds of the classroom to tackle real threats to water quality and habitat health in the watershed during their fall term last year.
ACERA students at Riverbend Park
Ashley Metz’ new Civics Ecology class at the ACERA School in Winchester visited Riverbend Park in Medford to remove invasive bittersweet vines and pick up trash after learning about the problem of stormwater pollution in the Aberjona River in class. Students and their families learned first hand about the ecological and societal benefits of restoration, removing a large swath of invasives along the river path in just under an hour! The class was then inspired to create a field guide for the Aberjona River–to be released next month–that includes student poems, species profiles, and a sound map! We are so excited to work with students in supporting this one-of-a-kind project.
An area near the river path before (left) and after (right) ACERA students removed the invasive bittersweet vines.
Students test water quality at Draw Seven Park in Somerville.
Erika Riddington’s new Resilient Somerville class at the Next Wave Full Circle Alternative School tested water quality at Draw 7 Park in Somerville to learn about runoff in commercial areas of the city. The first class to visit the park, students were delighted to find their nutrient test results were normal–much like those found each month at the site during baseline testing. Students were also, in seeing plans for the future design of the park, able to understand how mitigating the effects of climate change and stormwater pollution play equally important roles in maintaining healthy water quality in the Mystic. We hope students like Erika’s will continue visiting sites in the watershed to learn firsthand the importance of water quality standards.
Fourth grade students from Jada Simmons-Ononeme’s science class at the George Keverian School in Everett participated in MyRWA’s Storm Drain Design Project for the fourth year in a row! After learning about the threat of stormwater pollution, students worked together in groups for one week to engineer storm drain models using recycled materials and demonstrated the models in action to friends, family, and local officials at a final showcase. Students also created PSAs and creative flyers to educate their community about simple ways to prevent stormwater pollution. The projects served as a testament to our future generation’s passion for adopting new solutions to stormwater pollution.
Students from the George Keverian School showcasing their storm drain designs.
We are committed to bringing more experiential programs like these to students throughout our watershed. Want to learn how you can work with youth in supporting this type of learning? Attend MyRWA’s upcoming Educator Training Workshop on February 15th, 2023 to learn more about spring volunteer opportunities.
If you would like to host MyRWA in your classroom or community space, reach out to Natalia at Natalia.Bayona@mysticriver.org for more information. You can visit our education webpage to find a list of program offerings.
