The 33rd Annual Student GREEN Congress has officially concluded! This March, South Sound GREEN, the Nisqually River Education Project, and the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium once again joined forces to put together this event for our water quality testing students. We had over 460 student delegates gathered at The Evergreen State College for a day dedicated to scientific discussions and collaborative action. The morning began with a keynote from Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales before students were off to their State of the Rivers sessions. Within these sessions, delegates presented their water quality data, analyzed their findings, and brainstormed impactful action projects with their peers.
In their State of the Rivers groups, student delegates discussed and then voted on different ideas for action projects within their communities. Our volunteers tallied the votes and found that the top three action projects were litter cleanup, planting trees to provide shade, and pet waste management. There were so many great ideas and the enthusiasm the students brought to the discussion was amazing! We hope the delegates will take this knowledge back to their communities to work on implementing their own projects.
The afternoon offered a myriad of workshops for the students to choose from. From hands-on salmon and dogfish dissections to flyfishing and art, delegates got the opportunity to connect with individuals from various environmental fields! This portion of the day was full of knowledge sharing and excitement over the natural world.
A huge thank you to our teachers, volunteers, community partners, and students for participating in this event! It was wonderful to see the passion for stewarding our environment in people of all ages. What a great note to start our Spring programs on!
