Wendt students paddle their way to outdoor learning

“We had the greatest day of our lives,” said fifth grade student Kayla Wisner when asked about the class canoe trip through the Elochoman Slough.

“We saw some amazing things; like a sea lion, a sea otter and even some King-Fishers. We sang songs. We went really fast too!”

McKenzie Miller and her colleagues with the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (LCREP) hosted the kids as an extension of a classroom program on local watersheds.

LCREP is one of 28 programs in the National Estuary Program that works to protect and restore the nationally significant lower Columbia River estuary with on-the-ground improvements and education and information programs.

The Estuary Partnership has been working collaboratively with Linda Wright and her fifth grade class at JA Wendt Elementary school. Miller was a guest in Wright’s class this week to provide expertise that builds on existing programs. Students learned about watersheds and how land use affects their local watershed both positively and negatively.

Then Thursday, with rain clouds approaching, the kids trekked from the school down to the Cathlamet Marina to board two 34-foot fiberglass canoes. The students clutched paddles and maneuvered the unbelievably stable boats through the Elochoman Slough and up to the Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge offices.

The trip provided a rare and valuable educational experience for the JA Wendt students. It gave students the opportunity to apply learning that had taken place in the classroom. Estuary Partnership staff encouraged student observation and sensory exploration to become familiar with ecosystem characteristics.

“The weather was the best ever for canoeing but when it was time to walk back to school, BAM! The hail, thunder and lightning hit,” Charlie Ashe from the fifth grade class pronounced.

Charlie is right. As students and chaperones made their way back to Wendt Elementary, the skies opened up and sent 30 smiling, soaking faces running for cover.