Crockett Elementary Educators Certified As A Texas Stream Team

Crockett Elementary teachers and administrators began the first day of the spring semester on the banks of Spring Lake finalizing their certification as a Texas Stream Team. Hosted by the Texas State University Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, the certification allows the educators to use state-approved water quality kits.

Principal Doug Wozniak said, “We now have the ability to test the water quality at Spring Lake or other bodies of water and plan to get our classrooms involved more directly with the Meadows Center.”

Texas Stream Team is comprised of trained volunteers and other supporters to gather, record, and share information about the state’s natural resources. The training involved is for quality control.

Teachers can accomplish many goals through the project, not the least of which is teaching students to observe what is going on around them, how to identify and address environmental issues, and how to preserve our community’s resources.

Abstract concepts like biology, chemistry, and ecology can be introduced to students early in their education and can be built upon with grade advancement. Schools like Crockett Elementary can monitor a body of water under the teacher’s supervision through educational activities and objectives. Eventually a certified trainer can train students in grades 5-college to also become certified monitors of their own sites.

Principal Wozniak adds, “We have another training coming up for parents which will allow them to go out to Spring Lake as a family to test the water quality at a designated spot on the boardwalk that has been adopted by Crockett.”

Currently trained citizens are monitoring natural resources in Texas at over 400 sites each year. For more information about Texas Stream Team partners, visit http://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/Service/TexasStreamTeam.

Top Story Photo: Crockett teachers and staff – Katherine Conwell, Brenda Mayorga, and Brenda Mendoza sampling water from the walkway.