Summer is well underway and South Sound GREEN has been enjoying the extra time to get organized and prepare for the 2024-2025 school year! But just because it’s summer and most students are not in school, that does not mean that field trips have to come to a complete stop. This month, we helped out with STREAMS (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math, and Service/Stewardship), a Tumwater School District program for middle school students. With South Sound GREEN, students participated in a benthic macroinvertebrate lab and tested the Deschutes River for dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pH, turbidity, and temperature. When testing water with students, we like to discuss how humans impact ecosystem health in both negative and positive ways and enjoy hearing student ideas. They always have great thoughts about how they can protect and support the waterways within the SSG watershed region and we were happy to be able to have those conversations even in the summer.
We also said goodbye to our amazing AmeriCorps member Ariel this month! Over her 10.5 month term, Ariel made amazing impacts on local students and TCD. Notably, Ariel took on the role of coordinating SSG’s 3rd grade nearshore trips this year, allowing us to personally interact with and educate all 3rd grade classes within the Olympia School District and bring them to local beaches. SSG reached new heights this year in terms of program offerings, and Ariel played a large part in making that possible. Always bringing a positive attitude and willingness to help in any situation, Ariel was an incredible co-worker and community partner, and all of us, from SSG to TCD to the greater Thurston County community, are sad to see her go. We wish her luck in all of her future endeavors!
Though there is still another month before the school year begins, now is a great time to reach out if you are interested in becoming a volunteer with South Sound GREEN! If you have any experience in education, water quality, intertidal biology, salmon, or other environmental education fields, please reach out to Sam at snadell@thurstoncd.com with the subject line “SSG Volunteer Interest – YOUR NAME.” We are excited for the year to come as we are looking forward to working with returning volunteers and would love to have some new volunteers join us in our programs! We will also be looking for an Evergreen intern through the CCAS program soon, so if you or someone you know is an Evergreen student, please keep an eye out for information.
