This season has been full of service learning activities in the Johnson Creek Watershed!
We commenced our fall season with a field trip to Leach Botanical Garden’s Back 5 Project area with David Douglas High School at the end of September. We’ve worked with their Career Technical Education program for a number of years now and enjoy having their student cohorts come out regularly during the school year. Two instructors came out with 29 students to start the year off strong. Leach Botanical Garden, JCWC and Bureau of Environmental Services staffers lead the students through ice breakers, a scavenger hunt, macroinvertebrate exploration and invasive species removal. We presented a year-long project to the students in which they will become familiar with an introduced species, work with it in the field and present on it at the end of the school year.
JCWC continued our service learning season with a field trip to Errol Heights Park with Sunnyside Environmental Middle School in mid- October. This trip is the first of three in which we will ask the students to become familiar with the area, its different ecosystems and its wildlife. The afternoon weather was dry and mostly sunny and the students enjoyed exploring the park through observational exercises, like journaling and drawing, taking water quality samples and noticing wildlife through binoculars.
In early November, students from Catlin Gabel High School joined JCWC and The World Salmon Council at Johnson Creek Park to learn about water quality testing, macroinvertebrates, native and introduced plant species, riparian ecosystems, and salmon biology (from a real salmon carcass!).
David Douglas High School returned to Leach Botanical Garden for their second field trip in November, this time focusing on mapping key points in the Back 5 area. The Geospatial Outreach Coordinator at PCC Sylvania led students through this observational activity and encouraged them to use their senses to inform the landmarks they noticed in the area. The students chose their plants of interest for their year-long project and continued to familiarize themselves with their plants by removing them from various patches around the Back 5 area.
Thank you to all of the folks from Sunnyside Environmental Middle School, Catlin Gabel High School, David Douglas High School, Leach Botanical Garden, Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland Community College and The World Salmon Council for making these field trips possible for students! JCWC is continuing to plan field trips into the spring for students 2nd grade through high school. If you or anyone you know is interested in planning a trip with JCWC for the spring season, please reach out to sima@jcwc.org.