Students Participate in First Ever Youth Clean Water Summit on Lake Champlain

At the end of May, the Lake Champlain Sea Grant education staff teamed up with Lake Champlain Basin Program and many other community partners to put together the first-ever Youth Clean Water Summit.

Two hundred elementary, middle, and high school students from eight schools in the Lake Champlain basin traveled to the Burlington waterfront to participate in various watershed education activities.

"It was great to participate in this trip to the waterfront on a beautiful day at the end of the school year," shared Doug Woods, special educator at Champlain Elementary School. "As a special educator, it was fantastic to see students of all abilities have access to the learning opportunities offered and be able to enjoy some fun on Lake Champlain."

Students from St. Albans City School kicked off the day with a keynote presentation where they shared their Makerspace projects including student-made tee shirts and 3D printed fish bookmarks.

After the keynote, students headed to their assigned water theme activities. While some students sailed on Lake Champlain with the Community Sailing Center or Whistling Man Schooner, others were at the Community Boathouse learning about water quality monitoring, in the lab observing plankton under a microscope, or watching a local movie about water conservation, No Other Lake or fishing with Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department staff.

“For some of these students, this was their first time out on Lake Champlain, or even a boat for that matter! To have them recreate on the Lake makes this event even more special,” says Caroline McKelvey, the Watershed and Lake Education Specialist for Lake Champlain Sea Grant.

If you’re interested in bringing watershed education into your classroom, check out Watershed Alliance, a Lake Champlain Sea Grant and University of Vermont Extension program focused on teaching K-12 students and teachers about place-based science.