A program that changes how students learn about the Ohio River got a big boost from Duke Energy Thursday.
The Foundation for Ohio River Education (F.O.R.E.) received a $40,000 donation from the Duke Energy Foundation to support its River Research, Education and Adventure Charters (River REACH) program.
Jim Henning, president, Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky, said the Ohio River plays an important role for the company in moving coal and other commodities to its electric generating stations.
“We also believe in the importance of giving back to the community,” Henning said. “Our employees and our company donate…dollars and hours, to help make this a better community for all of us to live.”
The donation was presented on the Queen City Princess, just before the Queen City Riverboats vessel took a group of students from Conner High School in Boone County out on the river for a day of research.
“It’s you, the students from Conner High School that are here today, that we are investing in, because you are the leaders of the future,” Henning said. “You’re the employees that are going to come to work for companies like Duke Energy in engineering disciplines. I can’t think of a better setting and a better time to announce this grant than today, which is the eve of Earth Day.”
Jonathan Frommeyer, 18, is a senior at Conner High School. Next year he plans to attend Thomas More and ultimately become a marine biologist, so the program has been very helpful for him.
“I have volunteered at the Newport Aquarium for more than five years now, so I have known what I want to do for a while,” Frommeyer said. “I like all of the fish species around here and how they can live everywhere and how they travel up and down the river.”
Heather Mayfield director of F.O.R.E., said the donation allows the organization to increase its reach.
“It’s going to help get, 1,600 kids from the Greater Cincinnati area on the Ohio River,” Mayfield said. “It’s not just getting them on board for the field trip. We actually have an extensive curriculum that we train teachers to do in the classroom.”
The River REACH program engages students in applied STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines through hands-on water quality monitoring, habitat assessments, and studies of aquatic organisms.
While on-board, students test water quality using the same methods and equipment as scientists who monitor and protect the river. The goal is to give students a sense of place in the watershed and an understanding of the challenges in protecting a resource that runs through the lives of millions of people.
Last year more than 60 percent of the students served by River R.E.A.C.H. came from underserved schools and the donation will help continue to make the program available to them.
The program is primarily delivered through schools, but F.O.R.E. will accommodate other groups through activities such as summer camps and scouting field trips.
Thursday students headed from Dayton, Kentucky, to a monitoring site to collect water samples and perform a habitat assessment of the site. They then split up into specialty to groups to focus on water chemistry, water biota (fish), and what they indicate about habitat and water quality. A third group conducted an Ohio River food web.
“The reason we arrange it that way is so when they get back to the classroom, they will combine their data and that’s what a scientist would do in the real world,” Mayfield said. “This program really is meant to foster collaboration and communication between students in critical thinking.”
In the evenings, the Queen City Princess is used to ferry passengers to parties and events, such as Reds games, but its primary purpose is as a science vessel.
“Every morning we bring about ten really heavy bags full of lab equipment and we set it up and make the magic happen,” Mayfield said. “Then we pack up and let the Reds games happen. It’s pretty neat and I like the double life this boat has.”
For more information on F.O.R.E. or the River R.E.A.C.H. program, click here .