The Aux Sable Creek Watershed Coalition and Mazon River Stewardship Initiative invite you to participate in a program to involve youth in our local watersheds.  The projected kicked off in March 2009 at the Grundy Environmental Fair and Yorkville Go Green Fair.  Each fair offered kids an opportunity to paint a square for the 2010 Watershed Quilt.  Quilt painting and assembly activities will continue until the end of 2009.  Participation in other activities will be encouraged throughout Spring 2010.

Activities are geared to raise awareness of the assets, opportunities and challenges in our local watersheds to help kids gain a better understanding of the interconnectedness between people and the natural world around them.  Five activity areas are identified: Teach, Read, Art, Culture and Kids can do it.  Teaching activities include outdoor environmental education trips to a location in one of the watersheds,   requesting a visitor to a classroom or group to talk about watersheds, attending a local watershed program or other related activities.  Area kids will be encouraged to participate in an area-wide read-a-thon.  A suggested reading list will be provided, focusing learning on water-related aspects.  Artistic opportunities include painting a quilt square for the 2010 Watershed Quilt or performing a water-related song, poem or play at a local 2010 environmental fair.  Cultural activities to be offered include native cultures or agricultural history talks about the watersheds.  Finally, kids are encouraged to make a positive difference by getting involved with their watershed.  Activities range from volunteering at a work day to restore a natural property, creating a watershed-based nature project for a 2010 environmental fair or participating in a service and/or learning project related to rivers and streams.

The 2010 Watershed Quilt will include approximately 140 squares designed by kids.  All painted squares will be watershed related – whether it be animals or plants commonly found in our local watersheds.  The center of the quilt will be designed by a local artist, who will use the illustrations in Crawdad Creek by Scott Russell Sanders for inspiration as well as tie the two watershed ecosystems together with their commonality: the Illinois River.  The outside squares will recognize our generous sponsors who have made this project possible.

Kids are encouraged to get involved.  Adult educators interested in being involved and/or assisting with this project are also sought.  For more information or a project brochure, call or e-mail Tammi Janel (815) 941-9311.

We are also seeking local sponsorships to cover project expenses.  Organizations, businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring the project are encouraged to contact Joan Soltwisch or Tammi Janel.

This project, called the Watershed Quilt Project, is a grassroots effort inspired by a program iniated in the Nature Quilt Project in Macomb, Illinois.  Our local version of the project builds on recommendations of the recent Aux Sable Creek Watershed Plan that recommends introducing the concepts of watersheds and stormwater in the classroom as well as working on programs with children such as precipitation monitoring, runoff tracing, stream monitoring and analysis, and habitat assessments.

This project is supported, in part, by an Illinois EPA Section 319 grant for the Aux Sable Creek Watershed.  It is also partially supported by the Community Foundation of Grundy County.  The Conservation Foundation, a local not-for-profit 501c3 organization who’s mission is to preserve land and protect streams is the fiscal agent for the watershed organizations involved in this project.

Project Information

  • Quilt species & descriptions:

    More to come!  We hope to list information about all the animals featured in our watershed quilt.

  • Painted quilt squares

More to come!  We hope to provide some pictures of painted quilt squares soon.

 

Who to Contact

 

Thank You Sponsors!