The Shell Creek Watershed Project began the new collection year with some excitement. A film crew from the Nebraska Loves Our Public Schools organization accompanied the students on their first day of collecting data.

They are working on behalf of the Sherwood Foundation to promote innovative programs and learning opportunities beyond the classroom. They are covering numerous projects throughout the state, and our Shell Creek Watershed program was chosen to be featured in their documentary. We also introduced them to our Beaver Creek Watershed study and Olson Nature Preserve amphibian project with the Henry Doorly Zoo.

We were able to give them many shots depicting how our program works. We began with our morning meeting before going out to the sites. The high water levels slightly affected our usual routine, but we adjusted just as we normally would.

The film crew was interested to discover each student’s role. They asked many questions while we got our water samples, searched for bio-indicators, and ran chemical tests. They were very thorough in getting our full story.

After a lunch break back in Newman Grove, we filed back into the vans and headed to Olson Nature Preserve to present our other programs.

We began by collecting water and running tests for Beaver Creek. Even with the high water level and fast flow, the camera crew was not shy about getting right into the action with their very expensive cameras. We were impressed by their dedication.

Next, we hiked over to the swamp to film some frog catching for our partnership program with the Henry Doorly Zoo. We ended up finding a few frogs to test for the chytrid fungus, so it was a successful attempt. Sometimes the amphibians don’t cooperate with us, but they wanted to be filmed too!

The preserve was the perfect background for individual interviews to be filmed. Mr. Seier explained the history of our science programs and the impact it has had on the students involved. Audrey Wondercheck, Mark O’Brien, Alisha Dunlap, and Ciera Afrank provided the veteran perspective. Elisabeth Backhaus and Brooke Pieke told of their reasons for joining the program. We would like to thank Ralph Pieke and Gene Wissenburg for also coming out to speak on behalf of Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group and the community.

We ended the day with a big send-off for the film crew. They were very patient with us, and fun to spend the day with. We appreciate their cause because we have gained an incredible amount of handson knowledge from our summer science programs. We are thrilled to share this with their vast audience. Please watch for our video at www.nelovesps.org. We also encourage you to check out the other amazing programs across our state. Nebraska’s public schools are doing impressive work in many different fields.