October at SSG means one thing – Water Quality Monitoring! Hundreds of students throughout Thurston County participated in our flagship program this month, analyzing important water quality parameters from local freshwater creeks and lakes that support native salmon health. SSG staff helped out at various school districts, from practicing water quality tests at Rainier High School, to offering in-class water quality testing at for Boston Harbor Elementary students, and leading STEM field days at the North Thurston elementary schools. It’s been a busy month, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Water Quality Monitoring will be continuing into November this year, leading us nicely into our McLane Creek Nature Trail chum salmon virtual field trips! Keep an eye out for information from local partners like Stream Team to learn when and how to see spawning chum salmon this fall in publicly accessible areas.
Also, we’re still looking for high school students to join the new Teens in Thurston (TnT) volunteer group! This month, TnT volunteers had the opportunity to assist with Orca Recovery Day, and we’re planning more exciting projects and experiences throughout Thurston County for future meetings. Interested teens and parents can reach out to Sam Nadell at snadell@thurstoncd.com for more information.
