Category Archives: Get Involved

2019 Spring Matching Challenge

It’s time for a Spring Matching Challenge! 

Our important programs, including environmental education at the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom, Langley Marina, and South Whidbey Schools, are funded exclusively through community support and local grants. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to amplify your donation from now until June 1st [details below!] and be sure to spread the word!

Help make sure our education programming and stewardship work continue by participating in this year’s Spring Matching Challenge!
Donate Now to Double Your Dollars!

An anonymous donor plus our Board has offered to match all donations, dollar for dollar, received before June 1, 2019, up to $5,000! There couldn’t be a better time to support environmental education, research, and restoration.

Remember that the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG giving campaign is Wednesday, May 8, 2019. If you donate to Whidbey Watershed Stewards through GiveBIG, that donation will also be matched by our anonymous donor!

Your employer may also match your gifts to Whidbey Watershed Stewards. Many companies and organizations match their employees’ giving. Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, Starbucks and Google are among the many companies in our region that generously support local non-profits through their matching gift programs. In most cases, a match from your company will double the amount of your gift.

Make the most of your employer’s matching, GiveBIG, and our anonymous donor’s matching challenge before June 1, 2019 for the biggest impact!

2019 Speaker Series

CLICK TO VIEW POSTER: 2019 Speaker Series Whidbey

Science, Art, & History of the Salish Sea

7:00 PM on Wednesdays. Suggested $10 donation per person.

March 6th: First Inhabitants of the Salish Sea – Adam Lorio

March 13th: Climate Change: Impacts on Plankton – Dr. Ambrust

March 20th: Family Night: Nature Journals – Susan Zwinger

March 27th: Plastics: Problems and Solutions – Heather Trim

April 3rd: Storm Water: Challenges and Solutions – Matt Zupich

April 10th: Communicating Science Through Art – Carla Stehr

Ongoing Front Room Art Show: Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm, March 1 – April 26

At the Bayview Cash Store, Front Room Gallery (Upstairs): 5603 Bayview Road, Langley

For more information www.soundwaterstewards.org, or info@soundwaterstewards.org

Brought to you by Sound Water Stewards, Goosefoot, and Whidbey Watershed Stewards.

Volunteer Teachers Needed at the Outdoor Classroom!

Share your love of the environment! Outdoor Classroom Volunteer Teachers Needed

Volunteers provide school aged children in our community memorable half-day nature experiences at the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom.

Join the talented crew of Outdoor Classroom volunteer teachers and help make these rich experiences happen. Whidbey Watershed Stewards staff provide the lesson plans, training, and all the tools you need to be successful! No formal teaching experience is necessary, though experience with elementary aged children is a plus.

Two opportunities for Spring 2020 Volunteer Teacher Training are on:

  • Monday, April 6th from 9am-3:30pm
  • Tuesday, April 14th from 9am-3:30pm

Lunch and good conversation provided!

At the training we will do the lessons together, get a chance to explore the facility and get to know each other. The training will start at  9:00 am  and wrap up by 3:00 pm with lunch provided. You will be given a printed packet of lessons to take with you.
We will also dedicate the first few days of the season to observation days giving you the chance to see the lessons taught. Amy is working out the schedule with visiting classes and will get those dates to you via the online tool “Sign Up Genius” as soon as they are set.
The Outdoor Classroom is a South Whidbey School District facility, which requires all our volunteers to submit to a background check. Please go to any South Whidbey School or District office with your photo ID to complete your background check prior to any of your volunteer instruction days.

The classroom is located at 7015 Maxwelton Rd, Clinton. 

DETAILS:

The Spring activities will focus on the Forest Ecosystem. Lesson details will be shared at the trainings.

On any given teaching day, each volunteer instructor runs one particular lesson/station and will see four small groups of students as they rotate through our stations. Students come in classes so one day you might work with first grades and another day 5th grades. You choose the lesson you would like to lead, the age group and the dates that work for you. It is helpful to volunteer for one teaching day per week, or more if available.

The spring season will run from April 21 – June 5th, from approximately 9:00 am -1:30 pm each weekday.

To sign up or for more information, contact Outdoor Classroom Coordinator Amy McInerney at amy.whidbeywatersheds@gmail.com

2019 Stewardship Work Parties

Looking for a volunteer opportunity that will make a positive impact on your local watershed? Consider joining us for one of these upcoming work parties.
We hosted several successful stewardship work parties in the Spring at our Freeland Wetland Preserve and Outdoor Classroom. Thank you to our awesome volunteers!

Coming Up: TBD

Outdoor Classroom Turns 20!

In October, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom! 

Twenty years ago, educators, parents, and local experts collaborated to realize the vision of the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom. What began as an idea to raise salmon in a classroom has grown to provide regular opportunities for hands on science and environmental education to K-8 students from Whidbey Island and beyond! The Classroom itself was dedicated in the Fall of 1997, and has become the vehicle to help educate more than 25,000 students since. 

Event photos by photographer and volunteer, Gordon Marvin:

For more information, please see this recent article from the South Whidbey Record. And also this article from the South Whidbey Record. 

An Opportunity to Give

An Opportunity to Give
This spring you have TWO amazing opportunities to help the programs of your Whidbey Watershed Stewards’ to flourish- the WWS Spring Challenge 2016 and Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG! Your financial support blooms even bigger than the individual dollars you gift as there are matching donations provided by others within each giving opportunity!

WWS Spring Challenge 2016

A wonderful group of dedicated WWS supporters is offering this fundraising challenge… donate directly to Whidbey Watershed Stewards before June 1st and they will match your financial gift dollar-for-dollar up to a value of $3500.00!! Support raised through this challenge goes toward our General Education Fund.

WWS projects and programs benefitting from your Spring Challenge financial gift include:

— Maxwelton Valley Outdoor Classroom elementary education classes
— South Whidbey Elementary School Salmon in the Classroom
— Langley Middle School Ocean Acidification program
— Freeland Wetland Preserve Wetland Wednesdays
— Smith and Minor Island Aquatic Reserve Kelp Harvesting Project

GO TO WWS DONATE PAGE

Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG 2016

GiveBIG, the one-day online charitable giving event hosted annually by The Seattle Foundation encourages people to give generously to nonprofit organizations who make our region a healthier and more vital place to live. GiveBIG is a day to support the people behind these organizations, those who work tirelessly to improve the lives of everyone in Greater Seattle with their champion-worthy work. To donate to Whidbey Watershed Stewards through the GiveBIG event visit WWW.SEATTLEFOUNDATION.ORG and search for Whidbey Watershed Stewards. All donations to WWS receive a portion of the Seattle Foundation’s “stretch pool” of matching funds. WWS uses the funds raised through GiveBIG to support our restoration and research work, which this year includes:

— Completing invasive plant removal at Robinson Beach in Freeland
— Replanting with native plants on all properties we steward
— Leading a kelp foraging research project in the Smith and Minor Island Aquatic Reserve

GO TO SEATTLE FOUNDATION GIVEBIG 

Letter from the President – March 2015

 Hello Supporters of Whidbey’s Watersheds,

Get your calendars ready…we have so many great events and opportunities on the horizon and we don’t want you missing out!

So much is going on around South Whidbey in April, with both the annual Welcome the Whales event and month-long Earth and Ocean Month programs.

  • April 18th– Welcome the Whales, Langley
    • WWS Bake Sale, Langley United Methodist Church from 11-3
    • Langley Middle School Ocean Acidification Project Presentation, XXXX from XX-XX
  • April 22nd (Earth Day!)- a WWS Earth and Ocean Month Event
    • Wetland Wednesday, Freeland Wetland Preserve from 12-3

What is a Wetland Wednesday? Through a generous gift from the Friends of Freeland we are now Stewards of the beautiful Freeland Wetland Preserve near the corner of Scott and Newman Roads. While the Preserve is open to the public year round, Wetland Wednesdays is our chance to get out on the land with you to explore, dream and learn together. We have a handful of experts joining us to share on a variety of topics, including wetland hydrology, native plants, and birding.

  • Save these additional dates for Wetland Wednesday’s:
  • May 20th, June 17th, July 15th, Aug. 19th, and Sept. 16th
  • Times, guest speakers and other information for our Wetland Wednesday’s available on our Facebook page and website at least a week before the event.

Salmon Enchanted Evening is coming up on July 25th…this dinner is a great chance to mix and mingle with fellow supporters of the Stewards. If you have not attended this annual fundraising event before and would like to receive an invitation, please e-mail info@whidbeywatersheds.org.

Other events on the drawing board include a celebration at Robinson Beach in Freeland later this spring and a family friendly fishin’ and picnicking party at Maxwelton Beach with our event partners, the South Whidbey Fishin’ Club, in August. As with the upcoming Wetland Wednesdays, we will post more about these parties on Facebook and our website as the details get sorted out. I’m sure you’ll read more about what we’ve got going on through future e-newsletters, too.

Thank you so very much for supporting Whidbey Watershed Stewards.

I look forward to seeing you at our events this year!

Sarah Boin, Board President

Recap: Freeland Wetland Preserve Opening Event

Event Update 6/23 What a wonderful event last Saturday! Friends of Freeland passed the torch and the new Freeland Wetland Preserve over to the Whidbey Watershed Stewards. We opened the Wetlands to the public and will begin developing public restoration and public outreach events that will highlight the environmental challenges and threats our wetlands face here on planet Earth. Would also like to report the Sun did appear to “stand still” in the sky for our event as we would expect for such a momentous occasion. Thanks to Friends of Freeland and the Rotary for all your support. Rick Freeland Wetland Preserve Sign Freeland Wetland Preserve 1 Freeland Wetland Preserve Opening Booth