Jefferson Elementary School's "Keeper of the Creek" Project
Kristin Erickson, a fifth grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary, along with Patti Warner, a 4-H Wildlife Steward, put together an urban stream enhancement plan that emphasized a hands-on wildlife education site along Dixon Creek as well as served as a community model for urban stream enhancement. The project is located in Corvallis, Oregon and includes the portion of Dixon Creek between Circle and Kings Boulevard behind Jefferson Elementary School.
1936 air photo of Dixon Creek near Jefferson Elementary
School.
2002
air photo of Dixon Creek near Jefferson Elementary School.
To
help fund the project, Kristin and Patti applied for a grant from the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Environmental
Education program and were awarded $13,784. The main goal listed as part
of the grant application included “working with local high school students,
community members and organizations to develop, implement and maintain a
stream restoration project for the section of Dixon Creek that runs by the
school. The students will monitor water quality and work to restore the creek
to a more natural state.”
Kristin and Patti also applied for and have been awarded a number of other grants and donations including one from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. This grant provided $3,665 worth of native bare root trees and shrubs to use in plant revegetation work.
Every class at Jefferson Elementary (K-5) has become involved in hands-on learning along the creek. Students have been involved with mapping, plant and tree identification and inventory, fish inventory, measuring creek velocity, drawing, and writing poetry.
Many
community partners, including Oregon State University's Extension
4-H, Benton County's Soil
and Water Conservation District, Oregon's Department
of Fish and Wildlife, City of Corvallis' Public
Works Department, the Audubon
Society of Corvallis, Earth Design
Consultants, and the Conservation Biology
Institute have volunteered their time.
More details about various activities can be viewed by following these links:
• Other Dixon Creek study results
• Tree identification and mapping
• Riparian vegetation restoration
• Work parties and presentations
• Trail interpretive sign posts
Kristin and Patti hope that the Keepers of the Creek project will become a perpetual project that will continue to enhance learning at Jefferson Elementary and for those in the larger community. Ultimately, they hope other community members will adopt and restore sections of urban creeks in Corvallis using this project as a model.
To get more information about the Jefferson Elementary School Keepers of the Creek project, contact Kristin Erickson (email: [email protected]) or Patti Warner (email: [email protected]).