Young students to clean up Barker's Island with help of the Rivers2Lake Program

Young 4K students at Newborn 2 School Education in Superior will be cleaning up trash around Barker’s Island on Friday, April 21, at 9:30 a.m. with the help of the Rivers2Lake Program at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. The 4-year-old students have been learning about the importance of the place where we live and the important role Lake Superior plays in all of our lives.

Amanda Guttormson, the students’ teacher, is currently enrolled in the Rivers2Lake education program at the Reserve. Through the program her students have been learning the importance of the three ‘R’s – Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. In order for the place we live to be clean, she is working to instill appreciation into the hearts of these 4K students so that they are able to grow up to be conscientious of their effect on the Lake Superior watershed. The children find joy in being outside and have gained a passion for the outdoors.

The Rivers2Lake Program is a dynamic mentoring program that helps teachers integrate Lake Superior into their classrooms. Rivers2Lake integrates the Lake Superior watershed into education as a foundation for engaging place-based learning, Great Lakes Literacy, stewardship, and watershed restoration. The program provides funding for bus transportation, on-water learning experiences, and funding for classroom resources, with an intent of eliminating barriers to outdoor education in schools.

This year the 4K students visited the Great Lakes Aquarium, where they got to see the animals that live in and near Lake Superior. Through their outdoor experiences, the 4K students have learned about hibernation, migration, and adaptation of animals that live in the area. This winter, their culminating event was a trip to Hartley Nature Center where they went snowshoeing to find clues that animals left behind.