Join us for these Community Events sponsored by our Johnson County Stormwater Quality Education Grant!

Two Streamway Trail Litter Pickups on Sunday, April 3, 2013 from 12 noon to 4pm:

Little Cedar Creek Streamway Trail – Meet at Firestone Complete Auto Care parking lot, 1200 W. Santa Fe, Olathe.

Clear Creek Streamway Trail – Meet at Monticello Trails Middle School, 6100 Monticello, Shawnee.

Participants must wear long pants and closed-toe shoes or boots that can get wet and muddy.

Turkey Creek Bike Ride and Litter Pickup on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from 9am to noon – This is National Trails Day! Meet at Chatlain Park, 6300 Carter, Merriam.

Educational Cleanup Floats on Saturday, June 18 from 10am to 2pm and on Sunday, July 10 from 1 to 5pm from the De Soto Access Ramp to the Cedar Creek Access Ramp. Reservations are a must as floats are limited to 20 paddlers each. Children ages 5 to 14 are welcome to participate as passengers in a canoe. All participants must wear a provided life jacket while on the water and sign a liability waiver.

Reservations for the Streamway Trail litter pickups (including the bike ride) are suggested, but they are a MUST for the cleanup floats. RSVP by contacting the Kansas Riverkeeper, Dawn Buehler by email or at 785 312 7200. Refreshments and supplies are provided for each cleanup!

Water Testing and Training for Kids About Water classes for Argentine Middle School

As part of Friends of the Kaw’s EPA Environmental Justice Small Grant, we are holding a training for volunteers to help us with our Kids About Water (KAW) classes for Argentine Middle School the first week of March. The training will be held on Tuesday, March 1 from 4:30 to 6pm on the 2nd floor conference room at 21 N. 12th Street, Kansas City Kansas.

For more information or to make a reservation for the training or KAW class please call Laura at 913 963 3460 or send an email. You will learn how to assist trained instructors to help students do non-chemical and chemical tests, and also the procedure to seine and identify macro invertebrates (insects that live in the water). Friends of the Kaw education staff will assist our high school interns (also a project sponsored by our EJ grant) in training volunteers on March 1.

We will test water with Argentine Middle School 7th grade science classes on Thursday, March 3,  Friday, March 4, and Monday, March 7 from 9:55 to 11:15; 11:30 to 12:35, and 1:30 to 2:45.  We welcome both trained and new volunteers to help out with as many classes as possible. We plan to be testing water at a location on Turkey Creek, but using our first choice location depends on availablity. Water testing will be done at the school if the weather does not cooperate.  We will know the location of the water testing for Argentine Middle School on March 1 and can also email or call any participants who have volunteered.