Mercer Slough
Environmental Education Center

Kelsey Creek Internship

• Students from Newport High School, Bellevue High School, the International School and Sammamish High participate in the program.
• Interns participate in a water quality monitoring program on Kelsey Creek & Coal Creek, including physical, chemical and biological testing.
• Interns work with the local Bellevue Family YMCA, Elementary After-school programs and Bellevue Boys & Girls Club to deliver fun, interactive activities to 3rd - 5th grader monthly through the spring.
• Interns develop and present lessons on the following topics: watersheds, water cycles, salmon lifecycle, non-point source pollution, animal tracking and more.
• In past years, the students at Somerset Elementary School (a past partner school) created a variety of projects, including a classroom newsletter, a puppet show, a play about pollution, an environmental comic book and more.
• Interns created the "Kelsey Creek Watershed Inventory," a comprehensive research document which provides information on historical, biological, and cultural parameters within the watershed.
• In 2003, the interns and their Mercer Slough mentors created the guidebook, Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community, A Handbook for Teens.
• The Lake Washington Watershed Interns continue to participate in the annual nationwide Envirothon. In 2008, the interns finished first in King County and 3rd in State.
• Annually, the Kelsey Creek interns participate in the city-wide Arbor Day event in April. In partnership with Bellevue Parks & Community Services, the Kelsey Creek interns organize and staff a native species planting.
• Every summer, the Lake Washington Watershed interns engaged the general public at Pacific Science Center in informal, hands-on, interactive demonstrations about their local watershed with Discovery Carts.

Programming at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center is provided by
the Russell Family Foundation, Anonymous and JiJi Foundation.