Alcona Community High School environmental science students study local streams as partners in developing a management plan for their local Black River Watershed.
This academic year, Alcona High School environmental science students are often absent from their classrooms. Rather, they might be found wading the waters of local Haynes Creek or elsewhere within their Black River watershed. Students are gaining first-hand knowledge of the river system while collecting and contributing important data to a watershed planning project. 
Collaborating with the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG), Michigan Sea Grant, 4-H Youth Programs, Huron Pines, and others, the monitoring efforts of these students are aimed squarely at developing a watershed management plan for their local Black River Watershed. A great example of place-based education principles in practice, the students gain an invaluable learning experience and, in trade, their community receives a wonderful stewardship contribution.
Initiated in 2010, and continuing through the current school year, Alcona students have taken leadership in sampling and testing water quality at sites along the Black River. Their water quality monitoring efforts are contributing data toward a larger watershed management planning effort facilitated by NEMCOG with funding support through the Michigan Coastal Management Program, administered through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
For the full article, please visit the following Michigan State University Extension news page: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/alcona_community_high_school_students_investigate_their_black_river_watershed