Lake Superior Initiative Kickoff Meeting – Feb. 7, 2008
Summary of Comments

• What knowledge, skills, and attitudes about Lake Superior water shed and the Great Lakes do we want young people to gain while growing up in our community?

• That their watershed is unique & that their actions directly impact the watershed
• Respect for their watershed and pride
• An appreciation and understanding of the past and its impacts for the future – ‘ learning from history’  i.e. introduction of fish species, mining impacts
• The ‘value’ of fresh water as a point of national and international interest and survival.

 i.e. expansion of desert regions throughout the world

• Responsibility
• Conservation
• How lucky we are to have all this fresh water
• Appreciate the uniqueness of our Lake… so often we don’t realize what we have
• The concept of stewardship & commitment from an early age
• Knowledge of place
• That they play a significant role in sustaining their lake

2.  What will schools and communities gain from a successful Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative?

• Improved quality of life
• Sense of ownership and pride
• Something sustainable for future generations…
• Sense of responsibility
• Nostalgia & valuation if they move away
• Attract more people to the unique program they offer
• Funding for integrated, meaningful education
• Realization of how fortunate (rich H2O resources) we are compared with nation and/or world!
• Awareness of our youth to the differences they can make or at least become aware of the issues
• Productive connections between student & community needs
• Students- get excited about learning and helping near home
• Community- get needed work done
• A sense of pride in the community and school
• Students will get outside and be seen as a positive influence in our community
• Knowledge and a reverence for the land
• Connections with education and vocations
• Knowledge of the land to promote stewardship as it applies to sustaining industry including extraction industry, forest products, and fishing
• Partners with community leadership, higher education, government, industry, and business

3.  What are the stewardship needs in the Lake Superior watershed?

• Valuation of local resource & potential future demands on it from other places

i.e. desert SW, Las Vegas, etc.

• How L.S. ties in with water resources cycles for western UP?
• What economic growth means for L.S.?
• Understanding of  human & natural history of L.S. H2O shed
• Maintaining and improving existing resources
• Mitigating past “delinquent” actions
• Protecting our Lake from sulfide mining
• It’s not for “someone” else to protect
• Erosion control
• Community land use planning
• Preservation of historical sites
• Sustaining the economy and jobs
• Invasive plant control
• Preventing resource damage by ORVs
• Awareness of place, sense of belonging & ownership

4.  What are the challenges to implementing placed-based education in schools and communities?

• Logistics -> Many stewardship needs in natural areas are best addressed during summer (non-school year) & many natural areas are hard to get to
• Convincing people it’s important – be valued and necessary
• Parental/ community support
• Distances to areas/ transportation cost
• $ Money
• Underprivileged economies
• Time
• Desire/effort
• Finding/making connections with community; figuring out how to “cover” GLCEs in multiple subject areas by/with a place-based project
• TIME- planning time for elementary general education teacher
• Cooperation among all stakeholders
• Time: planning time, $ resources for planning & training to cover sub fees

Hosted by the Western U.P. Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education, Isle Royale Institute, Keweenaw Land Trust,
Michigan Tech Center for Water & Society, and the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance with
financial support from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and The Wege Foundation.