Field Notes

September 29, 2017

Record 900 Students Participate in Lilly Center’s Annual Lake Adventure Days

During the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams’ annual Lake Adventure Days, a record-setting 900 students from 12 schools in Kosciusko County visited Pike Lake. The two-day fieldtrip took place September 28-29. To make the event a success, the Lilly Center teamed with local volunteers and DNR officers, Grace College elementary education students, and the Grace College School of Education.

Lake Adventure Day was arranged by Caitlin Yoder, education coordinator at the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams. Fourth graders from elementary schools including Akron, Claypool, Eisenhower, Jefferson, Leesburg, Lincoln, Milford, North Webster, Syracuse, Triton, Warsaw Christian, Washington STEM Academy and local homeschools enjoyed the event.

Lake Adventure Day focuses on firsthand education. Throughout the day, fourth graders took turns visiting five stations. They did water testing, built mini-watersheds, competed in an exercise to learn how to save water, created a water-themed craft, and even went fishing.

Aaron, a participating student from North Webster Elementary, said that his favorite part of the day was fishing in a local lake and that taking care of lakes and streams is important because of the wildlife habitats they provide.

Kosciusko County has over 100 lakes, but this was the first time many of the fourth graders took a closer look at them. Erica Kimble, a fourth grade teacher also from North Webster Elementary, said that an event like Lake Adventure Day is important because, “They [students] are going to be around the lakes for the rest of their lives, and they need to learn about how to maintain them for their futures and their families.”

The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams is creating educational opportunities throughout the 2017-18 school year through programs such as Classroom Lake Experience, the Lakes & Streams Art Contest, and Aquatic Petting Zoos.

Sponsors of the 2017 Lake Adventure Day event include Bart’s Water Sports, City of Warsaw, Dekko Foundation, DePuy Synthes, Warsaw Kiwanis Club, Louis Dreyfus Company, Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners, Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, The Papers, Inc., and Zimmer Biomet.