​​Theadora Duane was so inspired by trips to Ricketts Glen State Park and hiking the trails of the Montour Preserve and her grandfather’s property as a child with her father that the Bloomsburg native started her own environmental club as a third-grader.

“It was just me and my friends picking up trash at recess, but we thought we were so cool,” she said. “We thought we were saving the world.”

From an early age, she assumed it was normal for everyone to similarly appreciate nature as she worked in environmental clubs, hiked and volunteered with different groups.

The Commonwealth Cyber Academy held a special Floating Classroom aboard the Hiawatha Paddleboat near Williamsport on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, conducted by the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association.

The program acted as the kickoff for the group's summer Floating Classroom season, where people learn about river-related topics while cruising the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in the Hiawatha. 

Kathryn Allen led the lower-level presentation with an overview on salamanders, with a few live specimens on board. The upper-level session was led by Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky, who offered an overview on macroinvertebrates as clean water indicators with a hands-on macro exploration opportunity and bug coloring activity sheet. 

The Montour Preserve, located in Montour County, is the newest addition to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission's (SRBC) Eels in the Classroom initiative thanks to a collaboration with the Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC), Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association (MSRKA) and Fessler IT Consulting all through the Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership.

“We’re thrilled to have the Vernal School partner with our Eels in the Classroom (EIC) program that has educated tens of thousands of students on the importance of the American Eel in our ecosystems” said SRBC Fisheries Biologist and EIC creator Aaron Henning. “The display at the preserve is an excellent way of spreading the word to both children and adults about the eel population restoration successes we are beginning to see throughout our basin.”

The eels were delivered on Monday, May 20, and are in a 30-gallon tank in the hallway as you enter the educational center just outside the auditorium. The display includes three large educational panels that offer information about the historical and ecological impacts of the eel in our river basin and how the Eels in the Classroom program is helping to offer important awareness.

On Saturday, May 18, 2024, Central PA Rock and Mineral Club President Andrew Rockhound and his wife, Cori Rockhound, offered an educational fossil program at the Montour Preserve to more than 100 people despite a steady rain most of the day leading up to the event. 

It started at the educational center with an overview of the types of fossils that can be found at the Montour Preserve fossil pit and tips for finding them before everyone went to the fossil pit to hunt for fossils. 

Below are several dozen photos from the event. Videos and other content will be added as it becomes available. The program was offered under the Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership. Check out more program opportunities through the Vernal School here. 

Donations toward programs such as these and others can be made through this link.

The popularity of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association's HERYN (Helping Engage our River's Youth with Nature) kayaking and fishing program days and recent development of a West Branch Regional Director position has led to a new West Branch HERYN program opportunity to be held July 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bald Eagle State Park's Blanchard Lake near Howard.

The program will take place at Bald Eagle State Park’s Sayer Dam Beach at Pavilions 6 and 7. The registration for participants will be capped at 20 participants and participants will be split into 2 groups of 10. The program will contain three main program elements: Kayaking, fishing and pond ecology.