Channel 6 News Lawrence

http://media.6newslawrence.com/video/2007/10/26/wetlands.mov

Google Group Discussion

Attendance:

Travis Boley – Association Manager for Oregon-California Trails Association Jeanne Klein* – Director of Kansas University Theater for Young People Carey Maynard-Moody* – V-President & Chair of Water Quality for Sierra Club Wakarusa Group Patty Ogle – City of Lawrence Storm Water Quality Technician Rex Powell* – Education Chair for Jayhawk Audubon Society, President of Grassland Heritage Foundation Stan Roth* – Wildlife & Parks, Kansas Biological Survey Anthea Scoufas – Director of Education & Outreach for Lied Center of Kansas, Randy Stout – Coordinator of Research & Development for Kansas Board of Regents’ Kan-Ed project; WL Project Coordinators: Alison Reber* – Executive Director of Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance, Coordinator of Internships for WWL project Sandy Sanders – Education Committee of Jayhawk Audubon Society, Coordinator of Schools and Facilitators for WWL project)

Project Overview: The statistics below indicate the breadth of involvement in the Wakarusa Wetlands Learners project so far. More schools have scheduled since these were compiled. Not only have sixth grade students been very positive about their wetlands experience, teachers and chaperones have been expressing great enthusiasm for what they’ve learned about this unique environment. Approximately one-third of the students and chaperones coming on WWL trips have never been to the Wakarusa wetlands, including some who’ve lived in Lawrence for 50 years. It’s the ripple effect of this exposure that will be infinite.
10 Trips (8 Schools)
40 Stations (17 Different Topics)
67 Activity Facilitators (30 Individuals – some facilitators involved in multiple trips.)
Lawrence Public Schools & Community Participants (12 Teachers, 100 Chaperones, 428 Students)
Est. Total Student/Field Contact = 856 Hours
Est. Total Student/Class Content = 1712 Hours
Est. Total Student Wetland Education: 2568 Hours (107 DAYS)

Wetland Focus: Consensus among those present on Oct. 23 was to continue the project’s focus on wetlands for many reasons: a wetlands ecosystem is a timely focus for attention; it’s an environmentally sensitive and crucially important ecosystem; global warming gives new impetus for reconnecting people of all ages with essential natural environments; issues in Lawrence make wetlands especially prevalent in media engaging adults & children; Wakarusa wetlands is on the edge of the city, so very accessible and financially feasible for busing; a wetlands environment is a noticeably different environment that gets kids’ and adults’ attention.

Audience: The WWL project uses field trips to the Wakarusa wetlands as a focal point for generating several layers of community education. These are among the “learner audiences” impacted: 6th graders, interns, teachers of life sciences in upper elementary grades, community volunteers, facilitators seeking opportunities to share or expand their expertise, and the general community.

Funding & Resources: Wetland Learner field trips currently have 3 direct funding sources and multiple indirect sources. For a number of years the Jayhawk Audubon Society (JAS) has underwritten various educational endeavors related to Baker Wetlands. They have agreed to continue funding bus transportation to the wetlands through the 08/09 school year. The Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund through the Douglas County Community Foundation provided funding for 2007. Combined JAS & ESEF directly funded busing, supplies, intern stipends, and compensation for Sandy’s school/facilitator recruitment & coordination. The Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance (KVHA) utilized funding from the Kansas Dept. of Health & Environment (KDHE) to provide Alison’s time for intern oversight, materials development, the development of preliminary web resources, and general program development. KDHE’s funding was specifically for KVHA’s StreamLink Program to provide hands-on and technical assistance to local water quality education endeavors and to help develop the watershed education capacity of 5 communities in Kansas. By the end of the 07/08 school year, current funding from ESEF and KDHE will be fully expended.

Planning & Coordination Tools

o http://groups.google.com/group/dragonflycounty has a discussion board, a collaboration wiki for activity planning &/or writing, and a file repository. This is a public group but membership is necessary for posting.

o http://www.dragonflycounty.info is a customized google search page with discussion board and news feeds from a variety of environmental sources – mostly local.

o An online database has been set up to integrate event coordination with contact information and project tracking. (Zoho.com; see DragonflyCounty.info for links to calendar, event details, and new event form)

Pilot Community Interaction Tools

o Our pilot site was hosted at google blogger w/ a custom domain

o Upgrading to new platform; temporary URL is http://wetlandlearners.wordpress.com. By the end of this week, it can be accessed via www.wetlandlearners.org; we’ll need help with organizing content

o Event pictures posted at http://www.flickr.com search “wetland learners”; interactions with the general community, questions, observations, etc…also a recruitment & promotion tool; we could use help sorting out marginal pictures & adding info to the keepers

o A collection of webpages linked together by “marks/notes” – also has collaborative potential; http://trailfire.com/streamhopper/trailview/30473

http://www.scribd.com/doc/415398/Wetland-Learner-Internship-App07

Below is a sampling of their shots – see more at http://flickr.com/photos/streamhopper