PORT ANGELES — The Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center and the Olympic Park Institute have received $100,000 for educational programs that they operate as partners.
The money from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Bay Watershed Education Training Program — also known as B-WET — was awarded to the organizations’ North Olympic Watershed Science program for fourth- through eighth-graders in Sequim, Port Angeles and Crescent school districts, said Deborah Moriarty, spokeswoman for the marine life center.
Fourth- and fifth-graders in Sequim and Port Angeles will visit various points along Peabody Creek with the center’s staff.
“It is five hours with the kids where we do all sorts of tests for water quality so that they can understand what happens as the creek runs through the city,” Moriarty said.
Sixth-graders
Every sixth-grade student from the three districts will spend three days in a residential program at Olympic Park Institute that focuses on science investigation, said Tom Sanford, institute director.
“We teach them how various variables work together — such as the relationship between dissolved oxygen and the speed of Barnes Creek,” Sanford said.
“Our intention is to help them understand how watersheds work on the [North Olympic Peninsula] and to teach them to ask questions about their environment.
“We want them to build curiosity and build their ability to find solutions to issues they might find in their environment and in their lives.”
Elwha River
Olympic Park Institute staff members also will take every eighth-grader to the Elwha River to look at water quality and sediment distribution, Sanford said.
“We want them to look at this prior to the dam removal,” he said.
“We are giving them all the tools they need to be quality scientists.”
Ultimately, 1,700 students will go through a program, he said.
The B-WET program is overseen by Bob Steelquist, who also works as a scientist at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
“There are six divisions in the nation, and all together the programs distribute $9 million per year,” Steelquist said.
The intent of the grant funds is to help students better understand oceans and how other watersheds contribute to that, so primarily coastal communities receive the grants, he said.
“I think that one thing that is a good sign here on the Peninsula, and we should be really proud of, is that teachers and nonprofit organizations have a lot of experience with this kind of education,” Steelquist said.
“These are some really exemplary programs.
“It wouldn’t take long for the region to become national leaders in this.”
Some elementary students already have begun investigations into Peabody Creek, Moriarty said.
“Right now, we’ll take a break for the rainy season, but then we’ll pick it back up again in the spring,” she said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
