Minnesota and North Dakota students launch mini-canoes to learn where their water goes

NINA MOINI: For our next conversation, we're going to the Red River Valley. It's a stretch of Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada, where water flows into the Red River and North to Lake Winnipeg. From there, it goes to the Hudson Bay. And somewhere along this route, maybe lodged in a beaver dam or trucking downstream, there are small wooden canoes that were decorated and launched by students from about 40 elementary schools in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Each boat has a QR code and postcard instructing anyone who finds it to share the location. Joining me now is one of the people behind what's called the River of Dreams program. Taylor Lemieux is a watershed education coordinator for the International Water Institute, which is based in Fargo. Thanks for being with us, Taylor.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Hi. Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: And I'm also very happy to be joined by Ashley Lowe, a fifth grade teacher in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Thank you for your time as well today, Ashley.

ASHLEY LOWE: Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: I got to say, I love the QR code. It's very of the times. Everything's got a QR code. Taylor, could you tell us a little bit about exactly how this program works. QR code and all.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Yeah, for sure. So this is a watershed education program that helps students understand where their water comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. One of the most exciting parts, like you said, is that students get to decorate a small 14 inch cedar canoe. Those canoes are then launched into the students nearby river. And each canoe has a tracking number, as well as a QR code.

So when somebody finds the canoe downstream, maybe they're fishing on the banks, maybe they're just swimming, they can report it online at our website, riverofdreams.org, which is exactly where that QR code takes you. And it will enable students to find out where their canoe is along their journey. So it's a great way to become part of the story, while also helping students see the movement of water in real life.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And tell me more about the dreams, Taylor. Like, where do those dreams come from when the students are saying where they would love for the canoe to end up.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Yeah. So within our program, it consists of a two-hour-ish classroom presentation, where we go into classrooms and we teach students about where their water goes, their individual sub-watershed-- so their smaller river, their tributary, that flows into the red, and then along its journey to Hudson Bay.

So those students get to imagine what they think that their canoe might see along its journey. Maybe some bears, some deer, some moose, other people that are willing to help it along its journey. So it's just really awesome when those kids get to use their imagination in addition to geography that we're teaching them.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Ashley, I see that you've been using the program with your students for five years. What are you noticing when you're teaching the students in that environment?

ASHLEY LOWE: I guess what I love most about it is that we get to bring people that aren't in front of the students every single day, and they get to come and teach about something that kind of brings it to life for them. I just love that it encouraged that-- it encourages them to think about protecting our water resources, and it exposes them to all the different subjects and standards. But they're learning about something that's geographically important to us.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And so we have a recording. I really like this. I listened to it before the show of one of the students who participated in the program, and they read the dream that they wrote for their canoe. So let's take a listen to that.

STUDENT: It started when my person threw me in the Clearwater River. It was scary, but it was nice outside. I saw bears and deer. It was so cool to see wildlife. The water was clear and nice, but before my person threw me in, she said, you will go to the Atlantic Ocean. I didn't like the feeling that I'm going to the Atlantic Ocean, but it was nighttime and quiet. I can't wait till I'm in Lake Winnipeg.

One year later. Hi, I'm in Lake Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is in Canada. There is not many people here. I've seen a few, but not a lot. I can't believe I'm in Canada. I have seen ducks, loons, otters and fish.

NINA MOINI: Taylor, I love that because it's in first person as though the student were the canoe, which I really love. How far, realistically do the canoes really make it? All the way to Lake Winnipeg or where they ended up?

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Oh yeah. It kind of depends on where you launch them. But we do have a few that have been found on the banks of Lake Winnipeg. There's some that get stuck in dams along the way, whether that be beaver dams or human made dams. And yeah, they're just-- it's so exciting for those kids to know that their water ends up somewhere, right?

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: And it has an effect on where it goes.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And I'll ask, just because people will wonder and then email me, but is it bad for the environment at all to have these little canoes stuck in the different areas or streams, Taylor?

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Yeah. So we've had this concern before. And we look for the most environmentally friendly options, of course. So like we said, this is a cedar canoe. And it'll last a while, but there is a sticker that's inside of it as well covered with epoxy. And so we find all of the most environmentally friendly options for that.

And we actually did the math. And 200 canoes amounts to roughly the amount of wood in one 16-foot long, like, 13 inch diameter tree. So it's not as many as you might think. But yeah, that was a great question. It's just--

NINA MOINI: Yeah. I just want to clear it up in case people are wondering. But Ashley, I'm sure that there's tons of research out there about students getting outside of the classroom, getting away from technology and tablets. Is this a unique experience for your students? Like, do they get to do a lot of stuff like this, or is this something that they really look forward to?

ASHLEY LOWE: When we talk at the end of the year about some of their most memorable experiences or their favorite parts of the year, this is always one that comes up as something that they absolutely love.

NINA MOINI: Aww.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Some of the kids-- everyone comes from different backgrounds, but we always have a few kids throughout the years that have just said that they don't normally get to do things like this, or we've had kids that haven't even been down to the river. And it's just a totally new experience for them and it's so meaningful.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So Taylor, I understand that the program typically gets some funding from the Red River Watershed Management board, and then in the past has received matching funds from the Minnesota's Clean Water Fund. And it looks like this year the Minnesota legislature did not approve that funding. How is the program doing? What are you preparing for?

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Yeah. So we're actively looking towards the future, of course. Like you said right now, funding beyond the 2025-26 school year is in question. So we're exploring new funding opportunities and partnerships to ensure that we can continue and grow. We're hopeful and working hard to keep moving forward.

But yes, we usually get our funding through North Dakota and Minnesota, and it allows us to implement a consistent, high-quality experience across the whole Red River basin. So we're very thankful for that and also very thankful for the Red River Watershed Management board. They are a huge reason that we're able to do this work.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And Taylor, just lastly, I'll kick the last question to you. Why is it important for students to where our water goes?

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Yeah. So no matter where you are in the whole world, you're standing in a watershed. So our water, all water leads to the ocean. And those students, when they realize that even though we're in North Dakota and Minnesota, we're not near an ocean, but our water still goes there.

And you always hear about trash and stuff like that, littering in the ocean. And students like to feel that they can make a difference and they can. And so if they just protect their own waterways, they're able to make that difference just in a small way.

NINA MOINI: And Ashley, what about you? If this program goes away, would you try to do something else, or what are you feeling?

ASHLEY LOWE: I would be so sad. So I've done this for five years, but previously in a district I taught at before, another fifth grade teacher, she had had it. So when I moved to fifth grade over in Grand Forks, they didn't really have it going on, so I kind of reached out to the program and they were able to come, and they've been coming every year since.

I think we would be-- so now, myself and then all three of my fifth grade teachers that I teach with, we all four do it in our classroom and we'd be super sad. I mean--

NINA MOINI: But it sounds like you would all put heads together and--

ASHLEY LOWE: Oh, for sure.

NINA MOINI: --make it work like our teachers do. Thank you both so much. I'm afraid we're out of time. I wish we had more time. But wishing you all well with this program. Thanks for telling us about it.

ASHLEY LOWE: Thank you.

TAYLOR LEMIEUX: Thank you for having us.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. That was Ashley Lowe, a fifth grade teacher in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Taylor Lemieux, who is Watershed Education Coordinator for the International Water Institute based in Fargo. That's it for us on Minnesota Now today. I'm Nina Moini. Thank you for listening. Hope you'll join us again right back here tomorrow at noon.