About 250 elementary students fished, painted and watched the watershed in action Tuesday at the Spring Field Day in Lucerne Park. Fourth-graders from Warsaw Christian, Jefferson, Milford and Harrison attended the 10th session of the twice-yearly Field Day, organized by Kosciusko Lakes and Streams and taught by 37 Grace College students in bioscience and teaching classes. It was a learning experience for the elementary schoolers and the first teaching opportunity for many Grace students. The lessons for kids at the five stations they visited throughout the day were tailored to meet class standards, noted Anna Burke, KLAS program manager. For example, kids learned how to graph elements in the water after performing simple quality tests. Other stations had kids paint, learn about water conservation and see a demonstration of how runoff from land affects the water. But the most popular station, said Burke and KLAS Director Nate Bosch, was fishing. “They’re so excited about it, even if only one kid catches something all day,” Burke said. Milford fourth-graders Amanda Jenkins, Corin Nyce and Emma Berger were casting a line just after lunch. They said they learned Tuesday not to pollute because it hurts fish and ducks. Helping them were Grace students Kayla Hunter and Precious Brenton, both from the class Teaching School in America. Hunter, an elementary education major, said it was a good teaching experience. “We have a lesson plan but it’s up to us how to execute it,” she said. “We have to make sure they stay on task and stay focused.” Sponsors for the five stations were The Papers, Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, Louis Dreyfus and the Culver Family Foundation. Burke and Bosch also thanked the Warsaw Parks Department for making the facilities available.
