Student
Monitoring
Volunteer
monitoring programs within local schools complement the USGS study.
With equipment supplied by the watershed project, the Fairfield High
School chemistry class began monitoring chemical constituents at several
sites in the watershed during the 1996-97 school year. The chemistry
teacher continued this work the following year when he took a position
with the Cosmosphere Academy, a science and technology-based charter
school for Reno County students.
The
CMC contracted with the same teacher to help other teachers develop
similar programs. Since that time Elreka Grade School, the Nickerson
High School Science Club and the Reno County Home School Association
have participated in monitoring programs. The Reno County Education
Cooperative organized countywide seminars for gifted students that included
sessions collecting data at the river.
The
importance of these educational efforts cannot be over-emphasized. The
data collected is helpful in the overall picture but more importantly
the students carry an understanding of the watershed project to other
members of the community.
