We have set a little goal for ourselves . We plan to meet with every school by January 1st, 1999. The purpose of this check in is to learn how well we are currently supporting teachers in the watershed and what we can do to better and broaden that support. We will be in touch with you soon!

Hello and Farewell to Project’s Leaders

It is an important time to welcome the three people new to coordinating the work of the Thornton Creek Project. Following our decision of 21 months ago, each year all positions rotate with the exception of Peter Hayes’ ¼ time position as co-coordinator. The Project is very fortunate both to have had the leadership of those who are rotating out and to have the eager and skilled involvement of those who will pick up the work.

In the Project Manager position, we say good bye and thank you to Jess Nelson who is headed to the Spokane area with her husband Kurt for further study in dog obedience . September 2nd we welcomed to the position, Juniper Garver-Hume (left). With a fresh diploma from Western Washington University’s Huxley College, Juniper brings many strengths including studies in both environmental education and environmental science.

In the position of the annually rotating teacher serving as CO-coordinator, we thank project mainstay, Janet Charnley, for her high quality, pioneering work in this new position and welcome Pete Lortz, North Seattle Community College Science Instructor. For both, their year of leadership is one part of a larger, ongoing commitment to the Project’s success.

Joining the group in a one year position as the Project’s Technology Coordinator will be Melissa Frysztacki (right). A recent graduate of the UW Community and Environmental Planning Program, Melissa brings a welcome blend of familiarity to our work (she served as a GIS intern last year) and important skills in all areas of technology.

Your help in making the three new to their positions feel welcome and comfortable will be important.

Thanks - Peter Hayes

Introducing . . .

Hi, I am Melissa Frysztacki, the new Technology Coordinator for the Thornton Creek Project! I have been recruited to help work on many of the Thornton Creek projects that require some advanced technical know-how. Some of these projects include, refreshing the Thornton Creek Project’s web site and keeping it stocked with up to date information about the project, finishing and burning useful geographic information onto the Thornton Creek Project’s first CD for teachers and the watershed community, working on the 2nd Edition of the Thornton Creek Watershed Atlas, putting maps from the atlas up on the web site, and setting up workshops on ArcView GIS for teachers. Two additional projects that you will be hearing more about in the future are; the Thornton Creek Internet Map Server Project, and the Thornton Creek Watershed Database Library.

Teachers, I look forward to working with you in the coming year! Aside from improving my technical skills, I hope to learn more about watershed ecology and education through my work with the Thornton Creek Project. Please let me know if I can be of any help with your class projects or field trips!

We are looking for volunteers/interns for the 1998-1999 school year to help me with all my projects. Academic credit and service learning requirements can be arranged.

For more information contact:

Melissa Frysztacki. Technology Coordinator, tcptech@nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu, 526-0187.

Order copies of the following resources by contacting Project Manager Juniper Garver-Hume at 526-0187. Prices are listed separately.

Thornton Creek Reader, 4th Edition - The Reader is intended as a resource for students, teachers, and others making their way along the creek, around the watershed, and into the history of the whole area. Discovering the history of place is like looking for the creek itself: you’ll find some bits right out in the open, while other parts have been buried and camouflaged, with fragments of branches poking out in unexpected places. The material of the Reader itself comes from various treasure hunts, public and private.

This fourth edition of A Thornton Creek Reader is more user friendly and up to date than the 1995 edition. The fourth edition is designed to save paper in the future. It comes three hole punched so you can put it into a binder and simply add new sections as they become available from the Thornton Creek Project.

One free copy is available for each school within the watershed, otherwise copies are $8.75 each.

The Right Places Guide - A tool for teachers and citizens to find those places where the creek is revealed. The Guide includes specific information about sites within the watershed that provide outdoor learning opportunities. Each site listing includes a picture of the site, directions on how to get there, # of students the site can handle without destruction to sensitive areas, the suitable age and safety rating for the site, and notes on site history, current projects, and questions one might consider when they visit. The Guide also provides a stream survey activity with a worksheet, glossary, plant and animal species identification charts, and more.

One free copy is available for each school within the watershed, otherwise copies are available for $14.00.

Thornton Creek Watershed Atlas - The atlas’ goal is to increase and share the available information about the watershed in hopes of broadening the foundation on which decisions for the future are based.

The cost of copies is unfortunately high at $30. A King County grant helped to make 50 copies for the active schools and community organizations. Representations of the maps will be available on the Project’s website some time this year. We welcome and need your suggestions and involvement to correct inaccuracies and improve the atlas for a second edition, so give us a call. We hope that the atlas is an adventure in discovery linking community.

TCP Website

This year our website will receive extra TLC as Melissa, the new Technology Coordinator, will be here full time dedicating her energy to this and other technological projects the TCP is working on. Vic Lundquist will continue to volunteering his time to make our website more complete.

Our new, improved website address is:

This address will give you connections to both the TCP and the Thornton Creek Alliance home pages. The website address provided in the Winter 1998 newsletter (http://nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu/~tcp/) will still get you where you want to go, but this is hopefully easier to remember.

TCP Listserves

TCP has several listserves functioning at this time. To subscribe to any of the listserves mentioned below, just send a message to the listserve address from the account you wish to subscribe and include "subscribe <your@address>" in the body of the message (quotes are unnecessary). If you are having problems subscribing please contact Melissa (tcptech@ nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu or 526-0187).

If you are currently on a listserve and wish to be removed the process is the same as for subscribing, but include "unsubscribe <your@address>" in the body of the message.

Team/Committee Listserves - Listserves for each team to facilitate communication between team members and to post meeting times. Contact Melissa (tcptech@ nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu or 526-0187) if you do not receive your team’s announcements via e-mail.

General TCP Listserve - We try to use this listserve infrequently for important announcements or to post the newsletter so as not to clog up your in-boxes. Please have patience as we are in the process of updating this listserve.

Listserve address:

TCP-General@nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu

Science Listserve - Though we often remind ourselves and others that Science isn’t the only, or most important, academic discipline involved in the watershed, there is nothing wrong with sharing the truth that Science teachers have been more actively involved in the watershed than teachers in any other discipline. To help facilitate ongoing communication, Science educators and scientists asked that this e-mail listserve be set up.

Listserve address: TCP-Sci@nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu

Monitoring Listserve - A listserve to enable students, teachers, and interested citizens, to share with each other current monitoring information, to use as a place to ask questions and receive ideas.

Listserve address:

TCP-Monitor@nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu

North Seattle Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

For more information including accommodations for people with special needs, call (206)526-0187.