It’s River Keepers week for Crook County students

Crook County School District students are out of the classroom this week. They’re at reservoirs and bodies of water throughout the county to learn about watersheds.

“I think it’s kind of cool being out here,” fourth-grader Susana Marvan-Hernandez said Monday.

The school district partnered with the Crooked River Watershed Council and other organizations in the county to make the program possible. Students learn the River Keeper curriculum starting at the kindergarten level, and up to fifth grade.

“I think it’s great,” Crooked River Elementary fourth-grade teacher Steve Miller said at Ochoco Reservoir. “They’re getting a chance to be outdoors for a change. They spend a majority of their time away from school indoors, it seems.”

As part of the River Keepers program, students spend a day outside getting up close and personal with what they have learned in the classroom.

“We want the students to have an awareness of the watershed that they live in and how it affects their lives on a daily basis,” said Crooked River Watershed Council Project Manager Garry Sanders.

Volunteers from community organizations instructed students from stations at Ochoco and Prineville Reservoirs this week.