This is why… Gail Burghardt

I have always begun our unit on our watershed with the question, "What is a watershed?" A repeated, predictable answer is, "A watershed is a shed that holds water." When we go on to explore the nature of water, its properties, uses, and importance, a world of questions invariably follows. My students are hooked from the get go!

As we explore the story and map, The Watershed Journey, students are fascinated by the history of this place which they call home. Their growing connection to the place where they live comes alive. It is amazing to observe the way they formulate a new view of how they can be a part of protecting the watershed and all of its inhabitants. They see themselves as an important part of the community and develop a commitment to protect the land that they once may have taken for granted.

This place-based unit differs from conventional text and classroom-based education in that it understands students' local community as one of the primary resources for learning. It is rooted in what is local; the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature and art of where we live. Right before my eyes they become stewards of their environment. Learning becomes much more than just words on a page. It is water moving around their bodies. It is animals they see and touch each day. It is the sound of the rustling leaves while taking a nature walk. It is all of these sensory dimensions in the world they are a part of.

As they help collect aquatic insects from a cold healthy stream, identify them under a microscope, learn about native species, and about species that have been introduced by man causing unexpected changes in the environment, they become aware, hopeful, and find purpose in understanding at a much deeper level. They learn to take care of the world by understanding where they live and by taking action in their own backyards.

You ask me why? The benefits for my students have been enormous and ongoing. They leave with a sense of place, and their place in it. They become a part of something with a rich and meaningful history, and purposeful in maintaining it for the future.

... I have passionately supported the Flathead Lakers' 'Becoming Watershed Citizens' program for the past two decades.

-Gail Burghardt, Linderman Elementary School

Gail Burghardt and her 2016 third grade class.