The Mahoning River Education Project:  A Partnership  

 Introduction and First Week  - PowerPoint Slides

Second Week -  PowerPoint slides

The Mahoning River Education Project is a partnership between Youngstown State University , the Mahoning River Consortium, Earth Force, and local school districts.   Numerous other “partners in assistance” come from within the university, governmental agencies, community and arts organizations, and local companies like General Motors Lordstown.

Overarching themes are: Understanding natural & built structures and their interaction; sustainable redevelopment of the industrialized river & brownfield corridor; protection of the tributaries; how the condition of the river & watershed impact local quality of life & economic vitality; how our young people can be empowered & equipped to educate the adult sector of the community and be positive change agents in the place where they live. 

Schools Involved

            School districts involved year in the Mahoning River Education Project during the 2002-2003 school include Girard, Struthers, Youngstown, and Campbell.

 High School Involvement

            Girard High School is involving a team-teaching approach with 9^th and 10^th grade teachers from all disciplines, and is also offering an elective on the Mahoning River for grades 11 and 12. 

To provide first-hand knowledge, students and teachers experienced a watershed bus tour in the fall and visited Lake Girard , Squaw Creek, and the Mahoning River .  Further, teachers were trained in the interdisciplinary lesson plans of Project Wet* and have created projects for students including:

• WRITING A CHILDREN’S BOOK about the river (language arts)
• DOING STREAM MONITORING and charting the results (science and math)
• COLLECTING ORAL HISTORIES about the river (social studies)
• STUDYING VENICE’S WATER ISSUES (Italian)
• RESEARCHING RIVER RESTORATION and creating posters about remediation (environmental studies)
• INTERVIEWING INDIVIDUALS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CAREERS (personal development)
• CALCULATING STORM DRAIN CAPACITIES (math)
• CREATING POSTERS reflecting language centered around water (Spanish and Italian)
• PHOTOGRAPHING THE RIVER in different seasons (after-school club)
• CREATING A 3-D WATERSHED MAP (after-school club)

 Middle School Two-Week Intensives

          In the spring of 2003 over 2,500 students, grades 5 through 8 from eight schools, will participate in two-week intensive studies of their Mahoning River Watershed.  The two weeks will include numerous hands-on lessons*, assemblies, learning stations, and field trips.  Each grade will focus on their environmental theme**: 

• Watercycle (5^th grade)
• Ecosystem (6^th grade)
• Wildlife (7^th grade)
• Water testing/monitoring (8^th grade)

Students will create numerous “end products” as a result of their interdisciplinary hands-on activities, and will document their two weeks through photography, videography, and the creation of powerpoint presentations. 

K-4 Involvment

            We are currently working on development of a K-4 approach to Mahoning River Watershed education.

 Individual Classroom Involvement

            Individual classes can create their own Mahoning River education by borrowing a Mahoning River trunk through the local soil & water conservation district.  The trunks include the curricular resources listed below, as well as many other resources to assist students in research.***

 Curricular Resources

            Curricular resources to assist teachers and students in understanding their watershed include:

• TWO VIDEOS about the Mahoning River (12 minutes and 20 minute)
• A BROCHURE, “THIS IS YOUR RIVER”, and overview of the Mahoning River (its history, current condition, future, ongoing sources and remedies of pollution
• A BROCHURE, “SUSTAINABILITY IN THE MAHONING RIVER WATERSHED”, explaining key concepts of ecosystem, carrying capacity, sustainability, quality of life, economic vitality, and delineating major components of natural systems, built structures, and social systems
• THE MAHONING RIVER WEBSITE on which can be found find numerous research reports, historic and current photos, and maps
• “GUIDE TO OHIO STREAMS” and THREE COMPANION POSTERS of small stream, large stream, and big river ecosystems
• TEACHER TRAINING IN PROJECT WET**

The Overarching Goal

The overarching goal of the Mahoning River Education Project is to create an institutionalized process between Youngstown State University, local school districts, and community agencies & organizations by which students across disciplines and in grades K-12 learn about their Mahoning River watershed, its history, current condition, future and how its condition affects our collective quality of life and economic vitality; further, that students will, through this process, not only understand the interconnectedness of local natural systems, built structures, and social systems, but will also engage in student-generated civic-action processes, and will help educate the broader community by writing articles, creating powerpoint presentations and videos, collecting and airing oral histories, and producing public service announcements for television and radio, and by showcasing these end products at public events such as the YSU Mahoning River Fair.

* Teachers get ready-made lesson plans from the national water curriculum “Project Wet”.  To find out how you can sign up for future training in Project Wet (requiring six hours of training; teachers will receive certificate and the 500-page Project Wet book with over 90 hands-on, interdisciplinary lesson plans for K-12).

** Science standards and, therefore, themes, will change this coming school year (’03-’04).

*** To reserve the Mahoning River Trunk at your local soil & water conservation district, contact the following persons:

Mary June Emerson, Mahoning Soil & Water Conservation District, 330-533-2231

Kelly Hardval, Trumbull Soil & Water Conservation District, 330-637-2056, x 111

Jen Eckroate, Portage Soil & Water Conservation District, 330-297-7633, x101