Norman County East takes top awards during 29th Annual River Watch Forum
Mar. 9—GRAND FORKS — Norman County East High School of Twin Valley, Minnesota, was a big winner in the International Water Institute's 29th Annual River Watch Forum, taking first place in the Judge's Choice category and first place in the student-voted People's Choice category for its "Leaping into Watershed Communications" project.
This year's forum — the highlight of the year for the popular watershed education program — was held Wednesday, Feb. 28, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. The event drew 240 teachers and students from 20 schools across the Red River Basin.
As part of their assignment for this year's forum, River Watch students traded their scientific equipment for a camera and entered the recording studio instead. Each participating River Watch team created content by designing a calendar and by producing a podcast all about their local river or watershed. They also added a binder to catalog information and a poster display for live judging.
Other top River Watch teams and individual winners were as follows:
* George (Bud) Sinner River Watch Scholarship: Chloe Abraham, Norman County East High School.
* George (Bud) Sinner River Water and Natural Resources Scholarship: Cade Knutsen, Marshall County Central.
* Red River Joint Water Resources District-Manager's Choice: Lakota High School.
* Red River Watershed Management Board-Manager's Choice: Stephen-Argyle Central.
* Red River Basin Partnership Award: Wilderness Inquiry.
* Voyageur's Award: Chloe Abraham, Norman County East High School.
* First Place People's Choice (student voted): Norman County East High School.
* Second Place People's Choice (student voted): Minto High School.
* Third Place People's Choice (student voted): Cavalier High School.
* First Place Judge's Choice: Norman County East High School.
* Second Place Judge's Choice: Minto High School.
* Third Place Judge's Choice: Cavalier High School.
Keynote speaker for this year's River Watch Forum was
Cayla Bendel, R3 coordinator for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department
in Bismarck, who delivered her presentation virtually because of a blizzard the previous day.
Her presentation had "just the perfect amount of advice, humor, reality and honesty and hit home with high school River Watch students preparing themselves for summer jobs, college, and future careers," according to a news release from River Watch organizers.
As the R3 coordinator for Game and Fish, Bendel spends her time connecting people to hunting, fishing and the outdoors in general. She also co-hosts and produces the "North Dakota Outdoors" podcast, shares wild game recipes and writes an outdoor blog called "The Drift."
Students spoke up afterwards and had many questions for Bendel regarding her career path, best days at work and specifically on her process of producing the "NDO" podcast.
Following Bendel's address, students broke into smaller groups for breakout sessions on Hands-on Field Science and Outdoor Recreation, River Artwork and judging.
Session leaders for the Hands-on Field Science and Outdoor Recreation portion of the event were as follows:
* Laura Bell, University of Minnesota Crookston Natural Resources Department and former River Watch student — wildlife and birds in riparian habitats, specifically owls and silent flight.
* Andre DeLorme, Valley City State University and Prairie Waters Education and Research Center — macroinvertebrates in rivers and microscopes to identify them.
* David Kramer, International Water Institute and North Dakota State University — opportunities to use drones for agricultural purposes.
* Sarah Nagel and Colton Boesch, The Nature Conservancy — natural resource management in action on local land and career opportunities.
* Beth Hill, North Dakota Forest Service — tree identification in riparian areas and tree aging with increment borer.
* Tyler Sanders and Hannah Haglund, Wilderness Inquiry — social and emotional connection in outdoor recreation and trip guiding.
*
Ben Holen
and Mason Hammer, North Dakota Game and Fish — risks with aquatic nuisance species in the Red River Basin and early detection.
* Grit May and Dave Kirkpatrick, International Water Institute — introduction to mapping and GIS using the IWI Map Portal.
* Gregory Vandeberg, University of North Dakota — using a sand table and projector to manipulate surface flow in a watershed model.
The River Artwork breakout session featured Grand Forks artist Jamie Sebby. Students looked at aerial photographs of rivers to inspire an art piece created with the use of water colors.
Ashley Hitt, Dylan Hensch and Zoe Keezer judged the oral poster presentations. All have close ties to the River Watch program and have careers that interact closely with the land and water in the Red River Basin. Hitt helped run River Watch for several years in the Red Lake Watershed, and Hensch and Keezer both participated in River Watch during high school. This year's judging consisted of grading each team's sampling binder, River Watch calendar, podcast and a live poster presentation.
For 29 years, the Red River Basin River Watch Program has delivered innovative watershed education programming to schools and communities across the Red River of the North Basin.
The program operates on the belief that that education is the most effective tool to change attitudes and behaviors. The International Water Institute utilizes a cross-curricular approach to watershed science and education utilizing the "Four Cs":
* CHALLENGING participants to collect and think critically about scientific data.
* CREATING a sense of responsibility and stewardship for local waterways.
* CONNECTING students to their local rivers through experiential learning opportunities.
* CULTIVATING interest and appreciation for watershed science careers and opportunities.
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