Grassy Creek Becomes ClassroomBoaters, kayakers and fishermen using Grassy Creek may have done a double take last week as a flotilla of large blue rafts made their way from the public access on Armstrong Road to Pie Eyed Petey's on Tippecanoe Lake.
Each of the rafts was carrying an instructor and 12 Warsaw Community High School freshmen crew members wearing life jackets and each equipped with a bright orange paddle. A safety boat carrying Indiana conservation officers was not far behind.Named the "Warsaw Community High School Freshman Academy," a joint venture between the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District, Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation and the Warsaw Community School Corp., the program was designed to bring some 560 WCHS freshmen out of a typical school setting and into nature's classroom.
As each bright blue raft navigated through the meandering creek, instructors, teachers, an Indiana conservation officer and volunteers would identify plants, wildlife and mussels that lived in the fragile ecosystem surrounding them. Students on each raft would take the temperature of the water and test for dissolved oxygen and phosphorus levels, discussing the importance of both to sustain good aquatic life. There was also a lesson on teamwork.
Crewmembers soon discovered that their raft would only go in circles if they didn't paddle together.
Once at Pie-Eyed Petey's, members of the Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners Association shuttled students by pontoon boats to YMCA Camp Crosley. Here students were split into small groups participating in a break-out session that demonstrated the cause and effects that everyday life have on their watershed.
As the student's day ended, each left knowing they live on a very fragile watershed and that the environmental decisions that they and their generation make will impact the many Grassy Creeks found in this country.
