Project proposed from friends of the rouge: rouge education project will support the rouge education project (REP) which is an existing, high quality, school-based water quality monitoring program…

Project proposed from friends of the rouge: rouge education project will support the rouge education project (REP) which is an existing, high quality, school-based water quality monitoring program that combines long-term classroom-integrated meaningful watershed educational experiences (mwees) for students and teacher professional development. The rouge river is located within the metro-detroit area of michigan and is the most urbanized river in the state covering 467 square miles and housing 1.35 million residents. The REP begins with recruitment and training of 3-5 new schools to the program, targeting teachers working in underserved communities. All new and many returning teachers undergo rigorous training during a summer institute on water quality testing methods (full program orientation, water chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates, physical stream survey, planning) through a combination of online and hands-on in-person outdoor workshops. With support from program staff, they rece