Education
We strive to educate the community about watershed ecology and to develop a growing group of people who understand the strengths, needs, and problems affecting the Plaster Creek watershed. We seek to equip people to take action to restore their watershed. Ways we do this include:
- Presentations on watersheds, history and issues in the Plaster Creek Watershed, and things people can do to improve water quality in Plaster Creek
- Seasonal events, which include a presentation on Plaster Creek and opportunities to participate in on-the-ground restoration work
- School partnerships that include education in the classroom, field trips, and hands-on-restoration projects
- Newsletters twice a year that update followers on our work and share new information as it is learned
- Resources for more learning about Plaster Creek and other watersheds
Establishing watershed partnerships
One particular goal is to create upstream-downstream partnerships within the watershed. Very few Americans identify themselves as watershed residents, so we work to form intentional partnerships between upstream schools and churches with downstream schools and churches. Through these partnerships, people can come together as a watershed community to bring about lasting change.
Programs
Green Team
The PCS Green Team is a three-week paid summer position for high school students who live, learn, or worship in the Plaster Creek Watershed
Project GreenER
Project GreenER is a free, eight-session adult educational program that fosters understanding of and builds agency for watershed care
School partnerships
PCS partners with local K-12 schools to implement place-based learning, classroom activities, and student-led restoration projects
Education resources
2022
Evaluating Which Native Species Are Best to Include in Green Infrastructure Projects
Ken-O-Sha: Working for Reconciliation in a West Michigan Watershed
2021
Trees to Heal the Plaster Creek Watershed
2019
Dwelling: Our Watershed in Image and Word
The Buzz About Watershed Restoration: Helping Streams Helping Insects
2018
Fixing the Banks: Future Investment with Native Plant Currency
Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Great Lakes Region
A Majority of Adults in Michigan’s 3 rd District Support Action to Limit Climate Change
How Will Climate Change Affect Michigan's 3rd District?
2017
Returning Home: Reconciling Human Impacts Using Native Plants
Displaced Dirt: Keeping Sediment out of Streams
2016
Connecting Urban Neighborhoods with Their Creeks
Inspiration from History: The Remembered Past of Plaster Creek
Creek Friendly Yards: Intentional Landscaping in the Plaster Creek Watershed
2015
Alger Heights versus "The Flash"
Alger Heights Neighborhood Rain Garden Project
Fighting for the Watershed in the Absence of an Enemy: Shifting our Thinking of Rain
2014
A Healthy Watershed: Magnet for Birds and Butterflies
2013
Hidden Waters: The Secret Life of Silver Creek
Rainscaping to Reduce Our Stormwater Footprint
Wildflowers in the Watershed: The Good, the Bad, and the Weedy
2012
Loving our Downstream Neighbor: From Plaster Creek to the St. Lawrence River
Deep Roots: The Importance of Trees for a Healthy Watershed
2011
When It Rains... It Pours: Where Rain Goes
The Unfolding of Plaster Creek Stewards
2010
Watershed Awakening: Connecting College and Community to a Shared Place
Other topics of interest
Plaster Creek: Profile of a Human-dominated Watershed
Introduction to Plaster Creek Watershed Restoration Initiative
Loving Our Downstream Neighbor
Environmental Justice and Plaster Creek
Reconciliation Ecology: A new and helpful paradigm in the evolving lexicon of creation care
Groundswell Teacher Professional Development Days
Learning in Place:Education, Research, and Action in the Plaster Creek Watershed
Rainscaping for Watershed Restoration
Periodically we update our community on topics in and around our work in the watershed. This page is an archive of past e-newsletters. Get your copy hot off the internet (save the trees) by signing up for our mailing list.