My externship at the Boise WaterShed has been a cross-curricular experience (not only water quality, water renewal, and climate science… but also art, history and a little bit of urban design) that I’m excited to share with my co-teachers and students at Koelsch Elementary in Boise, as well as my colleagues on the BSD Green Team. I’m learning from a team of outdoor educators who have backgrounds in environmental science and lots of experience working with kids of all ages and adults.

As far as the day-to-day job goes, I’ve been employed here as an assistant educator with student groups. The WaterShed educators spend the majority of our time outside. We learn in outdoor classrooms on the river or ponds as we collect macroinvertebrates to determine water quality and identify other life in and out of the water. We also engage students on the River Campus, where the artwork provides a beautiful and interactive metaphor for the water cycle and the Boise River Watershed that sustains us. When I’m not participating in a scheduled lesson, I have the opportunity to greet unscheduled visitors to the River Campus and orient them to the flow of the artwork and what it means.

My culminating project here this summer is to help design climate science engagement activities for what will be called the “Innovation Station”, a part of the new Climate Science Education Center that will open next year. The new education center will be an exciting and impactful destination for students and teachers at all grade levels!