Missouri River Relief plans "learning festival" for county students in Hermann in October

This article was originally published in the Gasconade County Republican on Wednesday, August 31. 

By Dave Marner
Plans for a “learning festival” based along, and on the Missouri River, for county high school and middle school students are being finalized as Missouri River Relief prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary of cleaning the “Big Muddy.”

Students from Owensville High School, Owensville Middle School, the Hermann school district, and St. George, have been invited to attend separate day-long programs based on shore and on the Living Lands and Waters garbage barge River Relief will be using as the group travels down river from Jefferson City to St. Charles during October. Missouri River Relief is a Missouri Stream Team member based in Columbia, Mo., which has conducted large-scale cleanups from Yankton, S.D, to the mouth of the Missouri where it meets the Mississippi River. Students and faculty chaperones will have the chance to participate in several stations of land-based educational programs presented by professionals from the various agencies assisting River Relief staff.

Staff from the Gasconade and Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Farm Service Agency are scheduled to be participating in the program.

With river levels expected to drop over the next month, River Relief is also planning to have water-based learning stations which could include instruction on aquatics, biology, and water quality issues.

School administrators discussed curriculum issues with Barrow and the agency representatives planning to participate in an effort to design learning experiences which will match up with each school’s educational programs.

“This is exciting,” said Barrow who was making his second planning trip to Owensville for the project. He also met last Thursday with school officials in Hermann. “I’m really excited.”

“Our teachers are really looking forward to this,” said Kurt Keller, principal at OHS.

Part of the experience will include the chance for students to help clean a section of the river’s shoreline under the supervision of trained MRR personnel. That aspect of the experience was something Teresa Ragan, principal at OMS, would strongly support. “Service learning gives something back to the community,” said Ragan.

OHS students are scheduled to attend the festival on Tuesday, Oct. 4, OMS attends Wednesday, Oct. 5, and Hermann students are invited on Thursday, Oct. 6.

Siouxland Students Learn Importance of Missouri River

(blogmaster's note: This story includes a really great video clip. Although this story was run in Sioux City, it covers the Yankton Missouri River Watershed Festival, an annual event drawing Yankton area students to the river to learn from experts. Missouri River Relief's Vicki Richmond was the keynote speaker and talked to students at her booth. Oddly enough, the story mentions the Yankton clean-up on May 7 but didn't mention the clean-up we were doing in Sioux City that same day. )

Originally broadcast May 6, 2011 on KMEG Channel 14 in Sioux City, IA
Click here for original link and to view video. 
Click here to view video on YouTube.
reported by Jacob Heller

(YANKTON, SD) It's one of Siouxland's sources of life, and Friday hundreds of hometown students were learning all about it.

It's something we may take for granted, but the Missouri River impacts nearly every aspect of life, from the water we drink to the food we eat.

Nearly 400 students swarmed Riverside Park in Yankton, South Dakota, Friday, for the 3rd annual "Missouri River Watershed School Festival."

It's a chance for Siouxland students to get a new perspective on a major part of the landscape that may not be quite as "mighty" as the name suggests.