More than 500 students in 撸奶社区closed their books and pushed in their desk chairs then rode a bus to a different kind of classroom last month.
For six days, a group of educators set up an outdoor school with four classrooms in the 撸奶社区River estuary.
Between Oct. 19 and 28, a total of 24 elementary school classes planted native vegetation and had lessons on estuary fish, habitat mapping and invasive plant species.
The 撸奶社区Rivers and Estuary Education Program was created and implemented by DG Blair Whitehead. This year marked the fourth year the program has been offered in Squamish.
Working in past years with the 撸奶社区River Watershed Society in the Brennan Park area and at the Mamquam Reunion Project, Whitehead started with eight classes attending her outdoor environmental program the first year.
Whitehead said the program starts in the classroom. Local teachers received a CD filled with information and they received a few other classroom teaching tools. The classroom tools prepared the students for their field trip to the estuary.
One of the things the kids enjoy the most, Whitehead said, is helping to put plants back into areas where vegetation was removed.
This year, kids planted sedge in an area near the Windsurfing Spit. The students were given all the tools they needed to work in pairs to breathe new life into an area Whitehead described as bald.
"They love it, they absolutely love it," Whitehead said. "They go back and check on them. They take their parents and show them their plant."
The planting this year took place in an area commonly known as the dredge spoils. In 1971, part of the estuary was dredged to create the existing dike separating the 撸奶社区River and the estuary.
Remediation of the site has taken place in recent years and Whitehead said a small area is still void of vegetation so the kids in the program planted vegetation in the affected area.
Whitehead assembled a team of educators who offered expert knowledge in one of the teaching fields in the program.
Local invasive plant species awareness campaigner Kimberley Armour spoke to the students about non-native plants.
"I taught them what some of the invasive plants are and how they spread," Armour said. "They learned how they can pick up invasive plant seeds on their bike tires when they ride through the estuary and then drop the seeds close to their home."
Armour said moving the students out of the classroom and hosting them in the estuary was effective.
"They can grasp it more because it is experiential education where they are in the environment," she said.
Whitehead said the mapping portion of the curriculum involved measuring out a small area of the estuary then observing the plants and evidence of animal life in the area. The older students, she said, made notes to take back to their classroom so the notes could be used to create a habitat map.
Some of the small fish found in the estuary were caught and placed into small buckets for inspection by the students. In addition to seeing the fish and invertebrate species, the students saw the traps used to catch the specimens.
Kindergarten classes went through the lessons in one hour and older children received two hours of learning at four stations in the estuary, Whitehead said.
According to Whitehead, the program is popular with educators. The teachers who have participated in past programs come back every year to give their new students the hands-on experience, she said.
Whitehead's program was a collaborative effort bringing together a range of groups.
The 撸奶社区River Watershed Society was the lead partner. The Sea to Sky Invasive Species Society participated, and sponsorship was provided by the 撸奶社区Trails Society. Funding came from B.C. Hydro's Bridge Coastal Restoration Program, 撸奶社区Savings and the Parent Advisory Council at Mamquam Elementary School.
