[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 9 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNITION OF ANNE SWANT'S AP BIOLOGY CLASS IN WALLA WALLA

 Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, in November I had the pleasure of 
joining a unique group of students on a field trip to Coppei Creek 
outside of Walla Walla, Washington. The Advanced Placement biology 
class from Walla Walla high school, led by their teacher Anne Swant, 
has been engaged in an innovative program to study wild steelhead 
restoration and monitor water quality.
  The Coppei Creek project is a collaboration between the Walla Walla 
conservation district, Tri-State Steelheaders, City of Waitsburg, and 
local landowners. This group came together after severe flooding 
damaged property and habitat in 1996. Their goal was to restore stream 
habitat for threatened steelhead while providing necessary flood 
control for adjacent farmlands.
  As part of the ``Four Schools'' project Anne Swant's class has teamed 
up with John Geidl, a retired educator and executive secretary of Tri-
State Steelheaders, to institute a ``classrooms in the stream'' 
project--teaching biology and scientific research techniques through 
real-life applications.
  In addition to the work at Coppei Creek, the students helped design 
and construct in-stream habitat and riparian buffers for a fish-bearing 
stream on their own school campus.
  For their leadership in this revolutionary program, I was proud to 
award Anne Swant and John Geidl one of my ``Innovation in Education'' 
awards for excellence and creativity in hands-on science learning and 
leadership in teaching community conservation.
  This program, and the Coppei Creek restoration project are models of 
locally-driven conservation and education initiatives. This community 
has taken it upon itself, without unnecessary pressure from Washington 
DC bureaucrats, to engage in salmon habitat restoration and use it as 
an educational experience for future stewards of this precious 
resource.
  Clearly, a good education in today's world requires much more than 
just solid academic instruction--it must also include a broader 
understanding of the application of those skills learned in the 
classroom. The Four Schools Project is an excellent example of this 
principle in action. I propose to my colleagues here in the Senate that 
this successful project is further proof that local educators will be 
able to make the best decisions about the unique needs of their 
students.

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