ROCHELLE ­— The Rochelle FFA was a part of history Sunday when Donna Page’s students will become a part of a solution to reduce global waterway pollution by participating in ‘citizen science.’
On Sunday, the RTHS FFA chapter cleaned up a section of Kyte Creek near Skare Park. This local project was part of a larger effort known as the Illinois Waterway Cleanup Challenge in which numerous Illinois schools participated.
Illinois Waterway Cleanup Week is a teacher-driven initiative funded by Illinois Global Scholar and Farmers Insurance aimed at involving students in a statewide cleanup of our waterways and surrounding land areas, ponds, streams; even neighborhood gutters and sewer grates count. All are waterways where trash collects.  

“A large part of agriculture is the proper use and conservation of our natural resources,” Page said. “This year we decided to help clean up this water way that many of our local residents use. It just happens the Illinois Waterway Cleanup week was at the same time so we have decided to join other groups and report our findings.”
Students embarked upon the project last week, watching a video explaining just what a watershed is.  They learned about different types of pollution or impairments that impact the watershed and how these impairments enter the watershed.  
Students were asked comprehension questions and located RTHS and its corresponding watershed, then determined what types of pollutants (impairments) are unhealthy or damaging. After listing possibilities, focus was placed on four important impairments are identified: (1) fertilizer (nutrients) from urban/suburban areas; (2) fertilizer (nutrients) from rural/agricultural area; (3) sediment; and (4) E. coli.  

Working in teams studying water quality brochures as a reference, they discussed four core questions related to each impairment:
• Define the Impairment
• Why is their impairment harmful?
• Possible local cause of such an impairment
• What kind of community action or local project could help reduce this impairment?
After sharing answers with other teams, students are asked to consider these same questions for a new impairment: trash in the waterways.
While cleaning up Saturday, the students:
• Downloaded  CleanSwell app on their phones  
• Documented the kind of trash collected and take photos
• Submitted the cleanup data
• Compared and discussed it, thinking about taking action that will improve conditions within our watershed.