New School Year Brings New Watsonville Wetlands Watch Stewards

The Wetland Stewards Program is a hands-on, experiential wetland science after-school program with a mentoring component. The Program was expanded in 2012 to enroll nine Pajaro Valley High School interns each academic year. Throughout the school year, the Wetland Steward interns are trained in indoor and outdoor classrooms by the Watch’s education staff, by visiting scientists and experts, and through the Stewards’ own mentoring of younger students: The Stewards help lead visiting elementary and middle-school groups through outdoor inquiry-based activities. They develop leadership skills and serve as positive role models to the younger students as they explore the wonders of the wetlands right outside the Watch’s home, the WERC.

We welcome nine new Wetland Stewards, this year’s class of high school interns, who will be helping with our after-school programs. During summer training in mid-August, the new Stewards listened to a variety of speakers and local experts. Veteran Wetlands Watch Board members Bob Culbertson and Jim Van Houten helped them understand the history of the Wetlands and the Wetlands Watch and, during a wetlands circumnavigation, explained why the wetlands are so important to the community. Cindy Scott, City of Watsonville Environmental Educator, led the stewards on a walk where they learned to identify birds and understand their behaviors. Summer training also covered such topics as plant-life and tracking wildlife, and included an introduction to teaching.

In one of the week’s highlights, four of last year’s Wetland Steward graduates, Emmelie, Celeste, Paul, and Alexis, returned to help their successors understand “inquiry-based teaching.” Last year’s Stewards also entertained the new Stewards’ questions about their past experiences with the program.

The training week culminated in a camping trip to Little Basin State Park (located near Big Basin). On arrival on Thursday evening, the Stewards pitched their tents, built a fire from scratch, and roasted sausages and s’mores. During a guided walk through the redwoods, local educator John Deer taught the Stewards about forest flora and fauna and showed them how to teach and keep an audience engaged on the trail.

The rest of August saw the Wetland Stewards learning about restoration from our staff, meeting our docents, learning how to properly manage a classroom and group setting, and how to use a kayak in our sloughs. Their training will continue through the year, including, starting in September, the leading of visiting elementary and middle school groups in outdoor inquiry-based activities.  09/2014

Caption: Wetland Stewards Class of 2014–2015 on Recent Camping Trip with WWW Staff and State Parks Interpreter John Deer.

Caption: Wetland Steward, right, explores aquatic invertebrates with younger students.