Siletz River Day 2000
Welcome to
Classroom on the Siletz River Day
Siletz, Oregon
Classroom on the Siletz River Day was initially created and sponsored by Oregon Websites and Watershed Project, Inc., working in conjunction with project sponsors, Siletz School, and Oregon State University SMILE ("Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience") Program in September, 1997. Siletz River Day has been featured in newspaper articles, on statewide television news, and in a recent report to Governor Kitzhaber.
These Siletz School students are sampling the Siletz River fish population on River Day 2000. Dozens of fish were caught and documented by crews of schoolchildren fishing with their parents, neighbors, and other local experts. The Classroom on the Siletz River Day project is intended to be a model that can be used by other Oregon schools and communities--perhaps in a series of coordinated single-day events, as with the annual Audubon Society bird count.
This fish was colored, described in text, and scanned by Siletz second
grade students in 1998. It is part of a
report that has been used worldwide. Internet entries to the
students' guestbook have come from Ireland, Canada, Montana, Colorado,
and other spots on the globe. Other River Day 1999 students attended
workshops on using statistics for measuring wild plant and animal populations
(including fish); fished for native trout, lamprey eels, and steelhead;
documented the existence of local seal populations and landslides; measured
river water temperatures and sediment levels; visited traditional Siletz
Indian fishing sites; took documentary photographs and videos; conducted
historical research; and put the results of these activities on the School's
PEAS website.
These Siletz students are learning to use the Internet to help learn about the Siletz River. The Classroom on the Siletz River Day event was a direct result of the PEAS Project, which focused on Internet communications for sharing local environmental education projects among rural Oregon schools. River Day 1998 featured a number of May 6 and 7, 1998 events centered at Siletz School and focused on the Siletz River basin. Activities involved students, teachers, parents, scientists, and resource managers from Siletz, Oregon and surrounding communities. Presentations and field trips addressed local anadromous fish populations, lanslides, Siletz history and culture, and river water quality.
