Six Cordovan students were selected for this summer’s Copper River Stewardship Program. The Copper River Stewardship Program takes ten teens from around the watershed on a ten-day adventure from the headwaters of the Copper River to the ocean. This year, participants were from Cordova, Kenny Lake, and Strelna.  During their trip, stewards learned what makes their watershed special, discovered things they have in common, and discussed how they want their communities and ecosystems to look in 100 years. They flew in bush planes, talked with elders, rafted a river to pick invasive weeds, kayaked to Sheridan glacier, toured Cordova's hydropower facility, and most importantly, they made lifelong friends. 

Upon completing the trip, the teens synthesized what they learned into meaningful projects. Avery Reynolds' biggest takeaway was to be open to new friendships. The most impactful thing she learned was, “most of the time we have more things in common with people than we expect.” Her culminating work was a pen pal project with Strelna student Sylvia Nelson, designed to connect 3rd-5th graders in the Copper Basin with 5th and 6th graders in Cordova. Both teens presented their experiences and takeaways to the younger students and helped them write letters to students in the other community. Kids in Cordova were shocked to learn that some upriver kids had never seen the ocean and to hear about how small the class sizes are in Kenny Lake. When asked about her inspiration for the project, Avery explained that she liked the idea of connecting kids upriver and downriver before going on the Stewardship Program. “It was a way to give them a head start on building future friendships if these students have the opportunity to go on the Stewardship Program.”

Other student projects include posters and artwork by Grace Higgins and Lilly Simpler illustrating the significance of preventing invasive weeds. Brady McManus created a poster educating residents on the importance of properly engineered culverts. Max Osborn and Tage Kinsman made a story map detailing what they learned from their experience. This story map is available here. 

The program is a partnership between the Prince William Sound Science Center, the Copper River Watershed Project, the Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, and the Bureau of Land Management. It is made possible by the generous support from The Cordova Community Foundation, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, and  Kate Svitek Memorial Foundation.