Photo Credit: Courtesy of Oakland County Parks
A newspaper article about a classroom water-quality monitoring program inspired honors biology teacher Connie Gannon to literally send her Waterford Mott High School students “up a creek” in Waterford, Mich.
Twice a year, Gannon’s students make the short trek on foot from school to Waterford Oaks County Park to participate in the Clinton River Watershed Council’s Stream Leaders Program. The project is hosted by a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect, enhance, and celebrate the Clinton River, its watershed and Lake St. Clair, according to the agency’s website.
At the park, which is part of a 6,700-acre parks system north of Detroit, students take samples from the Pontiac Creek, a part of the Clinton River Watershed. Another teacher assists Gannon and the students in monitoring four storm-water detention ponds located near the administration offices.