AYRW Activities Fall 1997 - Summer 2011 - Austin Youth River Watch

AYRW Activities 2010 – 2011

July 14, 2011	14	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake courtesy of the Zilker Park Boat Rentals. Student canoed to the mouth of Waller Creek, one of our monitoring sites, and back to Zilker Park. We finished with burgers at Sandy’s for our final day of Summer Adventures.
July 14, 2011	14
July 12-13, 2011	26	Students evaluated how they did on their summer goals and ended with a Pizza Party at Double Dave’s Pizza on Duval. And on the 13^th we watched one of the women’s world cup soccer matches together while we were there.
July 11, 2011	14	AYRW students learned about the Wastewater Treatment Process from a presentation by Raj Bhattarai of the City of Austin’s Austin Water Utility’s Environmental and Regulatory Services Division. Afterwards, the students took the recycling to the Ecology Action Recycling Center across the street at the 9^th St. and IH35 location. Students evaluated how they did on their summer goals and ended with a Pizza Party at Double Dave’s Pizza on Duval.
July 8-9, 2011	8	Young Women of the AYRW had a sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse, went to see the bat flight at the Congress Avenue Bridge, swam at Barton Springs and did a night creatures walk in the evening. In the morning, the young women had a talk about the creatures of Hornsby Bend and Central Texas from Kevin Anderson at the City of Austin’s Austin Water Utility’s Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend. Afterwards the students toured the ponds where we saw hundreds of ducks and shorebirds and then hiked in the forest down to the Upper Island View Trail.
July 7, 2011	10	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake courtesy of the Zilker Park Boat Rentals. Student canoed to the mouth of Waller Creek, one of our monitoring sites, and back to Zilker Park
July 5, 2011	8	AYRW students tested the water in Barton Creek at the Texas Nature Conservancy’s Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students learned from Preserve Manager, Brandon Crawford, about his career path and about the important work and ecological dynamics about the Habitat Preserve. They learned about the habitat requirements for the endangered bird species – the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo.
June 30, 2011	12	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake courtesy of the Zilker Park Boat Rentals
June 27-29, 2011	38	AYRW students toured the fishes and the herps of the Texas Natural History Collections at the Pickle Campus of UT Austin. After the tour students had a picnic lunch by Barton Springs
June 24-25, 2011	13	Young Men of the AYRW had a sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse, went to see the bat flight at the Congress Avenue Bridge, swam at Barton Springs and did a night creatures walk in the evening. In the morning, the young men collected fish as part of the Fishes of Texas Project through the Texas Natural History Collections at the Texas Natural History Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin
June 23, 2011	12	AYRW students toured Cave without a Name near Boerne, Texas and visited Cibolo Nature Preserve, where they had a picnic, played in the creek and had a nice hike where they saw large stands of tall native grasses and sturdy Cypress trees in the riparian areas
June 22, 2011	12	AYRW students taught teachers how to do the water tests as part of the Groundwater to Gulf Program, a partnership of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, Keep Austin Beautiful and several other partners
June 21, 2011	8	AYRW students tested the water, learned about and hiked at the Austin Community Foundation’s Bright Leaf Preserve and also climbed Mt. Bonnell
June 20, 2011	13	AYRW students tested the water in Barton Creek at the Texas Nature Conservancy’s Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students learned from Preserve Manager, Brandon Crawford, about his career path and about the important work and ecological dynamics about the Habitat Preserve. They learned about the habitat requirements for the endangered bird species – the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo.
June 16, 2011	9	AYRW students toured Cave without a Name near Boerne, Texas
June 14-15, 2011	19	AYRW students learned about the Wastewater Treatment Process from a presentation by Raj Bhattarai of the City of Austin’s Austin Water Utility’s Environmental and Regulatory Services Division
June 9, 2011	11	AYRW students toured Cave without a Name near Boerne, Texas and then had a picnic and swam in the river near the Cave
June 7, 2011	7	AYRW students discovered eutrophic water in East Bouldin Creek at Dawson Park. The dissolved oxygen was measured at less than 0.2 mg/L.
June 6-8, 2011	~37	AYRW students set goals and reviewed safety strategies and quality assurance protocols for the first week of the AYRW Summer Leadership Program
May 14-15, 2011	7	The Young Women of AYRW camped out at the Texas Nature Conservancy’s Barton Creek Habitat Preserve – students tested water in the afternoon and in the morning to see diurnal changes, sampled benthic macroinvertebrates, and took a night hike – heard lots of birds through the night
May 12, 2011	16	AYRW students celebrated the end of the school year with their river watch group by catching frogs in the Green House at Hornsby Bend and with a Pizza Party for the South Austin Students and with ice cream at Sandy’s for North Austin students.
May 11, 2011	13	AYRW students celebrated the end of the school year with their river watch group with either pizza or ice cream at their favorite park – Dawson Park, off South 1^st Street for the South Austin students and Butler Park for the North Austin students.
May 9-10, 2011	34	AYRW students celebrated the end of the school year with their river watch group with Pizza Parties at Barton Springs and Emma Long Park
May 1, 2011	26	AYRW Graduating Seniors attended the AYRW Senior Dinner where they shared with each other what they have enjoyed about AYRW and their plans for the Future
May, 2011	~70	AYRW students completed end of school year surveys and evaluated themselves on how they did on their River Watch, school and personal goals for the semester
April 24 – 29, 2011	80	AYRW students prepared written items, articles, drawings and games for the Flying Fish Review, their newsletter
April 21, 2011	9	AYRW students tested and hiked at the Austin Community Foundation’s Bright Leaf Preserve.
April 9-10, 2011	7	Young Men of the AYRW camped and hiked at Palmetto State Park with students from several AYRW schools
March 31, 2011	11	AYRW students planted native grasses under the Montopolis Bridge
March 29, 2011	9	AYRW students toured the ponds at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant where they saw about 3,000 ducks
March 25, 2011	7	AYRW students planted trees in the riparian forest at Hornsby Bend with our neighbors from TreeFolks.
March 17, 2011	11	Young Women of the AYRW returned home to Austin from their Adventures in West Texas on the 2011 AYRW Young Women’s Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure see the video about SB EcoLearning Adventure 2011 here.
March 16, 2011	11	Young Women of the AYRW camped at Kickapoo Cavern Sate Park
March 14-15, 2011	11	Young Women of the AYRW hiked and played in and around Big Bend National Park
March 13, 2011	11	Young Women of the AYRW toured the McDonald Observatory and camped at Davis Mountains State Park.
March 12, 2011	11	Young Women of the AYRW adventured to Balmorhea State Park in West Texas on the 2011 Young Women’s Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure
March 7, 2011	1	AYRW student attended meeting of the AYRW Board of Directors in an effort towards bringing Youth on Board
March 3, 2011	9	AYRW students tested and hiked at the Austin Community Foundation’s Bright Leaf Preserve.
March 2, 2011	7	AYRW students hosted First Tuesday friends at 2.5 mile marker with two visitors to learn about the program
February 28, 2011	10	AYRW students flew kites at Zilker Park after testing water below Barton Springs.
February 26, 2011	5	AYRW students participated in the CRWN Stewardship Workshop at Redbud Center. They discussed how the river is in the segments that we test in and learned from other monitors how the river is in their part of it. We did a dissolved oxygen (D.O.) team contest where our students and all of the other monitors teamed up to do the D.O. test step by step. It was a fun way to brush up on our quality assurance skills and was a lot of fun. We also saw the dam models for each dam in the highland lakes system and talked a little bit about each lake as well as about the river.
February 24, 2011	20	AYRW students flew kites by the rock island in Zilker Park
February 16, 2011	7	AYRW students visited Bartholomew Park and walked along the creek there.
February 11 – 12, 2011	10	Young Women’s Retreat – students from four AYRW schools played games, practiced setting up tents and got to know each other better.
February 10, 2011	11	AYRW students visited Ford-Cummins Park.
February 1, 2011	14	AYRW students flew kites at the AYRW EcoHouse.
January 20, 2011	9	AYRW students toured the Blanton Museum of Art.
January 13, 2011	19	AYRW students visited Mt. Bonnell overlooking Lake Austin.
January 2011	76	AYRW students set River Watch, School and Home Goals for the semester.
December 7-9, 2010	45	AYRW students volunteered with Operation Blue Santa – the Austin Police department program that helps families in need at the Holidays with a nice family meal and toys for their children.
December 4, 2010	7	AYRW students monitored the freshwater mussel population in Platt Pond as a part of Mussel Watch, a Texas Nature Trackers Program.
November 29 -December 10 , 2010	82	AYRW students evaluated themselves on how they did on their semester goals.
November 13, 2010	1	AYRW student, Program Coordinators and Board Members and a volunteer did an EcoHouse Volunteer Day – painting a mural, cleaning and taking wood to the wood recycling center.
November 12, 2010	9	AYRW students took the recycling to the Ecology Action recycling center downtown.
November 11, 2010	10	AYRW student planted seeds from native plants we have gathered from other sites at the Montopolis Bridge.
November 5-6, 2010	8	Young Men’s Retreat – students played basketball, walked into the forest calling for owls and coyotes and saw an owl swoop over and heard coyotes off the trail. Students toured the fields and ponds of Hornsby bend in the morning and identified many species of birds.
November 4, 2010	19	AYRW students toured Hornsby Bend, identified ducks and other birds on the ponds and discussed migration.
October 26, 2010	40 Crockett students	Program Coordinators and one AYRW student lead Mr. Herring’s AP Environmental Science Class through benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and the dissolved oxygen test at Hornsby Bend.
October 23, 2010	2 AYRW Students and 20 community members	Program Coordinator, Adam Comer, and AYRW students gave a presentation and demonstration for families with Campfire USA at Palmetto State Park.
October 19, 2010	13	Students attended a workshop by Eric Heineman about getting into college, finding schools and paying for college. He discussed FAFSA and scholarships, student loans and dispelled many myths about getting into college. Thanks to Eric and to Academic Answers for your concern, your time and your information.
October 16, 2010	3	Students attended a young women’s Sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse. Students called for owls and coyotes, played games, and watched movies. One owl responded immediately to our calling right on the telephone pole in the front of the house. It followed us for a while to the edge of the forest where it landed in a dead tree and we could see its silhouette very clearly. Students also walked to the river crossing where some scientists from University of Texas at Austin were conducting a diel study (testing the water every hour on the hour for 24 hours). We talked with the scientists about why they do the tests that they do and we discussed how the readings change over a 24 hour period. I.e. Dissolved oxygen goes up during the day due to photosynthesis, and lower at night due to continued respiration, etc.
September 27, 2010	17	Students tested water and planted Eastern Gama Grass near Montopolis Bridge. This grass will help hold the soil on the banks, prevent erosion and filter rainwater runoff during storms.
September 20 – 23, 2010	51	Students toured the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant, discussed the treatment process for Dillo Dirt, the water processed at the site, looked at birds on the ponds and saw frogs in the Greenhouse.
September 18, 2010	13	Students celebrated World Water Monitoring Day on Lady Bird Lake at the 2.5 mile marker along the Hike and Bike Trail. Students identified a low Dissolved Oxygen level in the lake on that day.
September 8 – 13, 2010	26	Students toured the riparian areas of the city and saw the flood debris high up over their heads in the trees along Lady Bird Lake and various creeks.
September 1 – 17, 2010	60	Students visited Colorado River at Montopolis Bridge and made observations about the ecological conditions at the site. We discussed the role of healthy riparian areas and healthy uplands in maintaining water quality.
August 30 – September 3, 2010	52	Students set River Watch, School and Personal Goals for the semester; took a survey online about how they are doing on their knowledge of the water quality tests; and visited the Montopolis Bridge to discuss riparian and flood plain ecology and other dynamics affecting this area.

AYRW Home
Calendar 2009 – 2010

July 15, 2010	13	AYRW students canoed from the Zilker Park Boat Rentals up to Cold Springs. We viewed numerous birds, waterfowl, turtles and discussed the natural and cultural history of Lady Bird Lake.
July 12, 2010	17 students from the East Austin Boys and Girls Club	Volunteers from the Boys and Girls Club helped AYRW staff cleaning and organizing the back porch, living room, and garage of the EcoHouse. Big Thanks for all their help!!
July 9-10, 2010	7	Students attended a young women’s Sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse. While there, students played games, prepared dinner, and watched movies. Students also visited Lady Bird Lake and the Congress Avenue Bridge to view and learn about Mexican Free-tailed Bats. While there, the students saw over 70 turtles in one spot, a river otter, and a single bat. The finished with a night swim at Barton Springs Pool.
July 7, 2010	9	AYRW Students visited Barton Creek Habitat Preserve and tested water at Barton Creek and listened to a talk from Brandon, the preserve manager, about the sensitive ecology, specific to the area and operations, to maintain the land.
June 30, 2010	9	Students toured the ponds, fields, and greenhouse at Hornsby Bend. While visiting, the student viewed different types of birds and waterfowl; American Coot, Purple Martin, and Little Blue Heron. Students also viewed numerous tree frogs, garden spiders, leopard frogs and learned about their integral role in the local ecology.
June 25-26, 2010	7	Students attended a Young Men’s Sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse. While there, students participated in a basketball tournament, played games, prepared dinner, and watched a movie. Students also visited Barton Springs Pool to night swim and toured Urban Roots in Austin to learn about organic farming and the teen program.
June 24, 2010	6	AYRW Students toured Cave Without A Name near Boerne to learn about cave formations and natural history of the area. Students then visited nearby Guadalupe River to eat lunch, swim, and view wildlife and learn about riparian ecology.
June 17, 2010	4	AYRW Students visited the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Imax Theatre and viewed Texas: The Big Picture. Students then ate lunch at Zilker Park along Barton Creek, where they observed several types of turtles and fish.
June 14, 2010	6	AYRW Students visited Barton Creek Habitat Preserve and tested water at Barton Creek and listened to a talk from Brandon, the preserve manager, about the ecology specific to the area and operations to maintain the land.
June 11, 2010	6	AYRW Students toured Inner Space Cavern near Georgetown to learn about cave formations and natural history of the area. Students also toured the Historic District in Georgetown and ate lunch at San Gabriel Park.
June 7-10, 2010	26	AYRW Students began the first week of Summer Leadership Program. Students were given an informative safety talk and tested water at several monitoring sites. Students also played board games and basketball at the Riverwatch House.
May 10-14, 2010	51	AYRW Students were treated for the end of the semester. Several students finished surveys and while all students reviewed semester goals.
May 3-7, 2010	53	AYRW Students completed end of year survey about Austin Youth River Watch.
April 26 – 30, 2010	57	AYRW Students contributed to the Flying Fish Review Student Newsletter.
April 25, 2010	11	AYRW graduating seniors celebrated their accomplishments with the senior dinner at the Olive Garden restaurant. We talked about future plans and what they enjoyed about River Watch.
April 24, 2010	8 Public Event	AYRW Students tested water at 2.5 mile marker along the hike-n-bike trail at Lady Bird Lake for Earth Day. Students showed the public aquatic insects and answered questions about water testing.
April 23, 2010	6	AYRW Students learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant and about the frogs in the greenhouse.
April 22, 2010	Austin Water Utility Staff and citizens	AYRW staff talked with employees of the Austin Water Utility and citizens about water quality in Austin’s creeks and the river and about the afterschool programming we do with the students of Austin Youth River Watch.
April 21, 2010	10	AYRW Students learned about sustainable food options at the Earth Day festival in Triangle Park hosted by Austin Green Art.
April 20, 2010	32 students from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy AP Environmental Science class	Students rotated through four stations where they worked with professional scientists to gain hands on experience with various forms of Environmental Monitoring including chemical and meter based water quality testing, analysis of surface water vs. ground water and how the two relate to each other, examining earth worms and other soil fauna as a means of understanding environmental trace contaminants and soil food webs, and biological based water quality analysis looking at organisms such as benthic macroinvertebrates (water bugs), freshwater mussels, fish, etc. After the field portion of the day, the students ate lunch and listened to and asked questions of the scientists they had worked with. The discussion focused on how the scientists got from high school to where they are now in their careers.
April 19, 2010	10	AYRW Students learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant, the frogs in the greenhouse at the plant and the flowers along the pathways and roads there.
April 10 – 11, 2010	8	AYRW Young Women’s Retreat – Students went to Buescher State Park where the interpretive ranger taught us all about Geocaching. Once the students learned the skills, they made discoveries of a couple of smaller geocaches and then lead us into the woods where they lead us to a treasure. Everyone signed the log book, got a treasure and left one too. After geocaching, we headed back to the AYRW EcoHouse for a sleepover where we played games, watched movies and ate pizza. We also took a walk down through the forest to see our local patch of bluebonnets.
April 9, 2010	7	AYRW Students tested water at “Big” Webberville Park and talked with a few folks who just finished a raft and canoe trip with the Austin to Bastrop River Corridor Partnership
March 25, 2010	5	1st day of volunteering for three students from St. Edwards University.
March 22-26, 2010	44	AYRW Students reviewed their progress toward their semester goals for School, Home and AYRW.
March 18, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – Students travelled home to Austin from the forest through the prairies and lakes region. Back at the AYRW EcoHouse, everyone circled up and talked about what they enjoyed most from the Adventure.
March 17, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – Students travelled west to Mission Tejas State Park. On the way, we drove through Nacogdoches, where Mr. Adam had attended Stephen F. Austin State University. We also passed Caddo Mounds State Historic site and talked about the Native American people who lived in Texas before the first Anglo settlers arrived. At Mission Tejas, students toured the mission, had a campfire and camped for the final night of our EcoLearning Adventure.
March 16, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – Students played basketball with Mr. Adam, took a nature hike, went fishing and canoed on Caddo Lake. In the evening, students played games and had another campfire. Students camped at Caddo Lake State Park for the night.
March 15, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – Students travelled through the Piney Woods north to Caddo Lake State Park – home of the only naturally formed lake in Texas. Students rode on a pontoon boat for a tour of Caddo Lake. They listened to the boat driver talk about choosing to live a good quality life there at Caddo Lake and about all of the wildlife she encounters there. Students had a camp fire and camped at Caddo Lake State Park for the night.
March 14, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – students got to see an adult alligator at Brazos Bend State Park. Then we travelled to Galveston where the students saw an IMAX film about coral reefs. It discussed the unique habitat of coral reefs, the life these habitats support and some of the current threats to them. Then students toured the Moody Gardens Aquarium. This was a very special experience. Student walked down a corridor that was entirely aquarium on all sides except the floor. Sharks and sea turtles swam over their heads.After Moody Gardens, the students went to the beach. Many of the students had never been to the beach before. They looked at sea shells and got their feet wet. Then we rode the ferry across to the Bolivar Peninsula. On the ferry, we saw porpoises, pelicans and sea gulls. From the beach we drove through the coastal plain up into the Big Thicket, the dense forest of East Texas where we camped out at Martin Dies Jr. State Park.
March 13, 2010	5	AYRW Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – Students travelled from the prairies of East Austin to the Lost Pines in Bastrop and on through the coastal plain to Brazos Bend State Park where they attended a Star Party at the George Observatory and camped out. At the Star Party the students got to look through the telescopes of many volunteers and see things like the Orion Nebula and Saturn. Through the night, the students were serenaded by the calling of several individuals of two different species of owls.
March 6, 2010	92 people- current and former students, their families and other friends of AYRW	AYRW Open House and Baby Shower for Program Director, Elisabeth Welsh. Current students, AYRW graduates from all of the 11 years of Elisabeth’s tenure and their families came for a Celebration at the AYRW Ecohouse.
February 24, 2010	5	AYRW Students talked about scholarships, where to find them, how to apply and strategies for making the application process easier.
February 22, 2010	11	AYRW Students talked about things that they can do now that will make their lives easier or harder in the future.
February 12-13, 2010	7	AYRW Young Women’s Retreat – Students played games, watched movies, made friends with students from other schools, took a night hike calling for owls and listening for night creatures. One student saw a Barn Owl up close. Students also saw glow worms in the soil and heard coyotes. In the morning, students walked the same path so they could see where they had walked in the evening.
February 8, 2010	12	AYRW Students learned about flood plains and riparian zones.
February 5, 2010	9	AYRW Students marked storm drains with markers saying “No Dumping, Drains to Creek“
February 4, 2010	2	AYRW Students learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant and about the processes at work at the plant.
February 3, 2010	11	AYRW Students learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant.
February 1, 2010	8	AYRW Students learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant.
January 29, 2010	2	AYRW Students on a rainy day, learned about the birds they saw at the ponds of the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant.
January 28, 2010	4	AYRW Students dropped off recycling at the Ecology Action Recycling Center at 9th St. and IH35.
January 25 – 29, 2010	40	AYRW Students thought about what their adult lives would be like and learned about finding jobs and housing and about budgeting.
January 14, 2010	5	AYRW Students attended a showing of an Environmental Film at the LCRA with the Colorado River Foundation.
January 11 – 15, 2010	40	AYRW Set semester goals for home, school and River Watch.
December 7 – 11, 2009	46	AYRW Students evaluated themselves on their semester goals for home, school and River Watch.
December 8, 2009	19	AYRW students volunteered with Blue Santa – wrapping presents, picking out the presents to wrap, boxing wrapped presents and having fun.
December 7 -11, 2009	46	AYRW students evaluated themselves on how they did on their goals for the semester.
December 5-6, 2009	7	Young Men’s Retreat – Students hiked through the forest at Hornsby Bend down to the river and up to the Big Tree. Back at the EcoHouse, the students played basketball and other games and late in the evening went for a night hike. Students practiced barred owl calls and coyote howls and used them to try to attract the creatures of the night. They successfully summoned an owl. The students saw the silhouette of the owl as it passed through the forest and heard coyotes closer to the EcoHouse.
December 3, 2009	14	AYRW students volunteered with Blue Santa – wrapping presents, picking out the presents to wrap, boxing wrapped presents and having fun.
December 2, 2009	6	AYRW students volunteered with Blue Santa – wrapping presents, picking out the presents to wrap, boxing wrapped presents and having fun.
November 21-22, 2009	7	Young Women’s Retreat – the students camped out at Buescher State Park. Students attended a Night Creatures talk and hike, roasted marshmallows, and in the morning went fishing and hiking.
November 20, 2009	2	AYRW students toured the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
November 16-20	44	AYRW students refocused on their semester goals.
November 14, 2009	15	AYRW students demonstrated water quality testing and learned about various environmental programs of the City of Austin and local no-profits at the Green City Festival.
October 29, 2009	7	AYRW students took the recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown and sorted all of it into the appropriate bins.
October 28, 2009	22	Students from Crockett High School’s AP Environmental Science class with Mr. Herring came to the AYRW EcoHouse and out to the river crossing here at Hornsby Bend where AYRW Program Coordinators, Ms. Elisabeth and Mr. Adam, helped the students to conduct and understand the Dissolved Oxygen test. After that, the students did a benthic macroinvertebrate sampling in which they found and identified many water bugs that breathe dissolved Oxygen.
October 27, 2009	14	AYRW students toured the Hornsby Cemetery.
October 27, 2009	6	AYRW students visited a 700 year old oak tree near their school.
October 26, 2009	13	AYRW students looked for birds on the ponds at Hornsby Bend and for frogs in the Green House.
October 24, 2009	13	For our annual monitoring as part of World Water Monitoring Day, we set up to show support for Tree Wheelin – an event of our Hornsby Bend neighbors – TreeFolks. Cyclists at three different levels of biking ability toured some of the most impressive trees around Austin. AYRW students tested water near the big Cypress tree on the South shores of Lady Bird Lake. Students from 6 different AYRW schools participated.
October 21, 2009	8	AYRW students looked at birds on the ponds at Hornsby Bend. Then they went to the greenhouse where they looked at and heard frogs. Finally, the students observed the photography installation at the Hornsby Bend Center for Environmental Research.
October 15, 2009	8	AYRW students, 2 university volunteers and the program coordinators toured the Blanton Museum of Art. The students observed a variety of classical to modern sculptures, paintings and other contemporary art installations.
October 13, 2009	6	AYRW students took the recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown and sorted all of it into the appropriate bins. Then the students went to see an art exhibit at the Mexican American Cultural Center.
October 9 – 10, 2009	5	The Young Women of AYRW had a Retreat and learned about Birds and Birding at Hornsby Bend. On the Evening of October 9th, we met up with the people attending the Owl Workshop led by Dr. Rob Fergus. We walked into the forest with the other 25 to 30 people as Rob called to the barred owls and the owls called back. When one of the owls flew over us to a perch, we saw its silhouette and then Rob pointed a bright light so that all of the students got a good look at the barred owl. The other bird watchers were very generous and allowed the students to look at the owl through their binoculars and spotting scopes.On the morning of October 10th, we went to the Center for Environmental Research (CER) at Hornsby Bend to take part in the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Birding at Hornsby Bend. We met up with about 20 – 25 other birding enthusiasts and went out to the ponds where we saw lots of shovelers, coots and other ducks of the season as well as black necked stilts, lots of swallows and hundreds of hawks and vultures in large kettles circling overhead on their migration route. One student remained for the afternoon festivities including the slideshow presentation of the photography of John Ingram and Greg Lasley.
October 2, 2009	1	1st Day for St. Edwards University student volunteer- Hamadri- majoring in Environmental Studies.
September 28, 2009	16	AYRW Students planted cauliflower and cabbage in the other garden plot in the backyard of the AYRW EcoHouse.
September 25 – 26, 2009	4	The Young Men of AYRW had a Retreat and Day of Service. On the evening of the 25th, the young men gathered at the AYRW EcoHouse where they ate BBQ, played basketball and then had an Owl Prowl and Coyote Howl. In the morning, the AYRW students helped plant tall native grasses along a waterway at the Travis Audubon Society‘s Blair Woods Preserve. They planted plugs of Eastern Gama Grass as well as plants of Bushy Bluestem. These grasses are very tall above ground and extend equally far beneath the surface. When storm water flows into the waterways, these grasses will help to slow the floodwaters, reduce erosion and their leaves will act as filters to clean the water before it reaches the creek.
September 22, 2009	11	AYRW students planted one of the garden plots in the backyard of the AYRW EcoHouse with cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce and peas. 1st Day for St. Edwards University student volunteer- Andrew – majoring in Environmental Studies.
September 8, 2009	14	1st Day for St. Edwards University student volunteer- Austin – majoring in Environmental Studies.
September 1 – 18, 2009	52	Students learned a new water quality test – E.coli. E.coli is bacteria that can cause harm to humans when found at rates above 394 colony forming units / 100mL.
August 31 – September, 2009	55	Students set 3 semester goals each for themselves: school, personal and River Watch

AYRW Home
Calendar 2008 – 2009

July 16, 2009	7	AYRW students canoed from the Zilker Park Boat Rentals up to Cold Springs. We discussed relationships between surface water and groundwater. Thanks to Zilker Park Boat Rentals for this opportunity.
July 13-15, 2009	35	AYRW students evaluated how they did on the goals for the summer, produced final version of the Flying Fish Review and finished up the Summer Leadership Program with a visit to Double Daves Pizza near the UT campus.
July 14, 2009	7	AYRW students visited and climbed Mt. Bonnell overlooking Lake Austin. There they learned about the source of the drinking water
July 10-11, 2009	8	Young Men of the AYRW had a retreat and sleepover. We met in the evening and had BBQ in Zilker Park and went swimming at Barton Springs. That evening back at the AYRW EcoHouse at Hornsby Bend, the AYRW students played games and watched movies. In the late evening the students went out in search of night creatures. We called for owls and howled for coyotes and heard some of each call back to us.
July 9, 2009	16	AYRW students canoed from the Zilker Park Boat Rentals up to Cold Springs. Thanks to Zilker Park Boat Rentals for this opportunity.
July 7, 2009	13	AYRW students found high conductivity in the water at Waller Creek at Waller Creek Center and low Dissolved Oxygen in the water in Waller Creek at the mouth of the Creek at Lady Bird Lake. We called the City of Austin Watershed Protection Environmental Hotline at 512-974-2550 to let them know about these readings.
July 6, 2009	6	AYRW students tested water and learned about the habitat requirements of two species of endangered birds, the black capped vireo and the golden cheeked warbler at the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve.
July 2, 2009	15	AYRW students canoed from the Zilker Park Boat Rentals up to Cold Springs. Thanks to Zilker Park Boat Rentals for this opportunity.
July 1, 2009	13	AYRW students toured Cave without a Name near Boerne, Texas where they learned about caves and karst features and saw the power of water.
June 30, 2009	8	AYRW students toured the Texas Natural Science Center at the Texas Memorial Museum, the Natural History museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Afterwards the students toured the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum.
June 29, 2009	17	AYRW students collected benthic macroinvertebrates and then analyzed their findings.
June 26 – 27, 2009	12 students + 3 volunteers	The Young Women of AYRW had a retreat. We had BBQ in Zilker Park, toured the SPLASH exhibit about the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer and swam at Barton Springs. Then we went back to the AYRW EcoHouse for the night where 4 students participated in an owl prowl. We heard owls but did not see any.
June 25, 2009	7	AYRW students climbed at the the South Austin Rock Gym where they learned the outdoor skill of belaying and helped each other to climb.
June 23, 2009	6 AYRW Students including 3 from the Summer Leadership Program	AYRW Students met up with other students participating in the PODER Summer Program and helped plant native plants and pick up trash at Oak Springs.
June 23, 2009	10	Students took the recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown near the monitoring location at 9th St. and IH-35
June 18, 2009	7	Students toured InnerSpace Caverns in Georgetown where they learned about the Edwards Aquifer, cave formation and water.
June 18, 2009	4	AYRW students climbed at the the North Austin Rock Gym where they learned the outdoor skill of belaying and helped each other to climb.
June 16, 2009	13	AYRW students tested the water and toured the Nature Conservancy of Texas Barton Creek Habitat Preserve where they learned about two species of endangered birds that depend on the habitat at the preserve for survival – the black capped vireo and the golden cheek warbler. Students also observed many species of fish and other wildlife at the preserve.
June 11, 2009	13	AYRW students climbed at the the South Austin Rock Gym where they learned the outdoor skill of belaying and helped each other to climb.
June 10, 2009	13	AYRW Students tested water at and toured McKinney Falls State Park where they saw two water snakes, many birds and other wildlife.
June 8 – 10, 2009	41	Summer Leadership Program began with group talk about how to stay safe at AYRW this summer and students discussed their goals.
June, 2009	18	AYRW Student Graduations
May 4 – 15, 2009	48	AYRW students completed end of year surveys and discussed how they had done on their goals for the semester.
May 6, 2009	7	AYRW Students harvested onions, cabbage and broccoli from their backyard garden at the AYRW EcoHouse.
May 5, 2009	8	AYRW students took the recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown. Cinco de mayo
April 28, 2009	9	Student TAKS day – toured the greenhouse at Hornsby Bend and saw green tree frogs, bullfrogs, cricket frogs and leopard frogs.
April 26, 2009	16	AYRW 2008 – 2009 Graduates attended the Senior Dinner.
April 21, 2009	Approx 40 students, including 1 AYRW Mentor	AYRW hosted an Earth Day water quality monitoring event for students in the AP Environmental Science classes at the LBJ Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) and one other school. Students learned about chemical and meter based tests, about what freshwater mussels and benthic Macroinvertebrate communities can indicate about longer-term water quality and also about riparian and upland environments. Professional Field Scientists from the City of Austin, the teachers, staff of AYRW, Austin Chronicle Reporter, Katherine Greggor, and others talked with the students about career and life pathways.
April 18, 2009	7 AYRW students + large community event	Students participated in the Earth Day festivities downtown. All of the students visited other booths to learn about the interesting environmental projects happening in and around Austin, about Eco-friendly products and also talked with people about Austin Youth River Watch when people stopped at our booth. Students demonstrated the water quality monitoring and talked with community members of all ages, races and physical abilities about water quality and the tests that we do.
March 23 – 27, 2009	41	Students used local job finder guides, apartment and home buyers guides, the internet and local newspapers to find jobs that pay for the type of lifestyle they want to lead, created a budget, found living accommodations and found out what level of education and experience are necessary for the jobs.
March 19, 2009	7	AYRW Students had a Nature Hike at Stephen F. Austin State Park and then traveled home.
March 18, 2009	7	Park Ranger at Martin Dies Jr. State Park met us near the Head Quarters and opened up the Interpretive Center for us and gave the students a tour and presentation. She showed the students her baby alligator, her snakes, a bee hive made of tree bark, lots of skulls and pelts and talked about her career and life pathway. From there we drove from the Forest to the Prairie / Savannah to Stephen F. Austin State Park where we had our last night of the trip. On our way, we stopped at Washington on the Brazos where the students learned about Texas History and ate lunch.
March 17, 2009	7	Students relaxed in the morning and then went for a hike on one of the nature trails at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. We looked for alligators but did not see any. We saw two different species of tree frogs, lots of birds, and noticed that the tree canopy had hurricane damage. Later a ranger told us that about 40% of the canopy had been severely damaged by the hurricanes. When we got back to camp we decided to go canoeing in the local lake. The vegetation in the water was thick and hard to paddle through. Out on the water we saw many birds close up and we also saw what our campsite looked like from a different perspective. The sunset was incredibly beautiful and the evening campfire very fun.
March 16, 2009	7	We visited Village Creek State Park and enjoyed our drive through the Big Thicket. We stopped and saw the Pitcher Plants in bloom in the Big Thicket National Preserve and then traveled on to Martin Dies Jr. State Park where we stayed for the next two nights.
March 15, 2009	7	Seven AYRW students, the two Coordinators and outstanding volunteer and AYRW graduate, Steff Herencia loaded up and headed out on the 2009 Young Women’s Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure to East Texas. We drove to Galveston where we toured the Aquarium and learned about Sharks in an IMAX film at Moody Gardens and then went on to visit the beach. That afternoon we pressed eastward and rode the ferry across to the mainland. We stayed in Beaumont for the night.
March 14, 2009	10	AYRW students gathered at the AYRW EcoHouse to get ready for the Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure.
March 7, 2009	4	AYRW students helped with the work day at Blunn Creek Preserve as part of the Austin Parks Foundation It’s My Park event.
February 28, 2009	5 AYRW students + approx. 20 other community members	Bob’s Bench workday along the Furtado segment of Bull Creek where Bob Furtado, deceased River Watch teacher and AYRW Board Member, is to be honored with a Bench and plaque. At this site he imbued his passion for water quality monitoring and for benthic macroinvertebrate sampling on his students.
February 21, 2009	3	Young Women’s Sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse – owl prowl and movie night.
February 12, 2009	small community event	AYRW Coordinator visited with local supporters of the Earth Island Institute.
February 5, 2009	community event	AYRW Coordinator visited with Reagan High School community members at a school function.
January 21, 2009	8	AYRW students planted the Spring Garden with flowers, broccoli, cabbage and onions
January 12 – 16, 2009	37	AYRW students started the Spring Semester by discussing home, school and River Watch Goals for the semester.
December 8 – 12, 2008	42	AYRW students evaluated themselves on how they did with their AYRW, school and personal goals for the semester.
December 6, 2008	12 + 2 volunteers and coordinators	The Young Women of Austin Youth River Watch had a sleepover retreat at the EcoHouse. We had an Owl Prowl: Walking to the end of the driveway the students practiced their Barred Owl calls. One student’s call was so exact we got her to keep calling as we moved closer to the forest and to the river. Once we got about half way between the house and the river the student called to the owls: Hooo Hooo Hoo Hooo. We didn’t hear anything and didn’t see any promising silhouettes so we thought to head back. But we decided to have a moment more of silence just to try one last time. A call – the barred owl : Hooo Hooo Hoo… Then the high pitched whine of the coyote cut off the call of the owl. Both creatures must have been within about 30 yards of us. Our instinct was to run. It was so exciting – with our hearts racing and the knowledge that we had experienced even more than we had hoped for, we walked quickly back to the house where we enjoyed hot cocoa, movies, popcorn and of course, stories.
October 22, 2008	approx 10	Students from Mr. Herring’s AP Environmental Science class came to Hornsby and did a benthic macroinvertebrate sampling with AYRW Program Coordinator. The students learned about water quality and about monitoring techniques.
October 18, 2008	5	Young Women of AYRW tested water in the highland lakes region of the Colorado River at Black Rock Park. These young women participated in the World Water Monitoring Day event that literally involves hundreds of sites all over the planet being monitored by thousands of people. Writer / Artist and AYRW volunteer Margie Crisp visited with the students. And semester volunteer Devi Savam camped with us.
September, 2008	50	Students set 3 semester goals each for themselves: school, personal and River Watch. Semester volunteers began.

AYRW Home
Calendar 2007 – 2008

July 17, 2008	6	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for AYRW Students this summer!
July 14 – 16, 2008	29	AYRW students had final day pizza parties at Double Daves by UT and evaluated themselves on their summer goals.
July 15, 2008	11	AYRW students took recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown.
July 11 – 12, 2008	13	The Young Women of the AYRW had a retreat at the AYRW EcoHouse where they got to know each other better, listened to frogs, played games like Apples to Apples and Pit and watched movies.
July 10, 2008	11	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for AYRW Students this summer!
July 8, 2008	10	AYRW students visited the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve where they met Habitat Steward, Brandon Crawford, of the Nature Conservancy of Texas Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students asked him about his job and his education background and other career-related questions and then tested water and swam in the creek.
July 3, 2008	7	AYRW students canoed on Lady Bird Lake Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for AYRW Students this summer!
June 30, 2008	7	AYRW students visited the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve where they met Habitat Steward, Brandon Crawford, of the Nature Conservancy of Texas Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students asked him about his job and his education background and other career-related questions and then tested water and swam in the creek.
June 26, 2008	7	AYRW students challenged themselves and helped each other climb at the South Austin Rock Gym.
June 19, 2008	7	AYRW students challenged themselves and helped each other climb at the South Austin Rock Gym. Students also celebrated Juneteenth and talked about the Emancipation Proclamation.
June 18, 2008	8	AYRW students did a benthic macroinvertebrate workshop with the Program Coordinator. They did a “bug stomp” or collection, identified the invertebrates they caught, sorted them by the quality of water each requires and released the bugs back into the water. They then used a rubric to help them assess the longer term water quality at the site indicated by the population of water bugs found there.
June 12, 2008	7	AYRW students challenged themselves and helped each other climb at the South Austin Rock Gym.
June 10, 2008	4	AYRW Students went caving in Whirlpool Cave in South Austin in conjunction with an activity with the City of Austin.
June 9 – 11, 2008	27	New Program Coordinator, Suzette Ermler, began the official expansion of AYRW by working with students from North Austin schools including Reagan and Lanier. AYRW students began participation in the Summer Leadership Program by talking about ways to stay safe in the AYRW this summer and also set personal and River watch goals for the summer.
June, 2008		Graduations
May 19 – 23, 2008	28	AYRW Students evaluated themselves on their semester goals for home, school and River Watch.
May 13,14 & 16, 2008	16	AYRW students looked for frogs and did frog counts by species at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant’s Aquatic Greenhouse. Students found Green Treefrogs, Bullfrogs, Cricket frogs and Leopard frogs. We also heard the calls of most of these species.
May 5 – 9	26	Students completed end of School Year Evaluation Surveys.
May 2, 2008	8	AYRW students flew kites and relaxed after a day of taking the TAKS tests.
April 30, 2008	5	AYRW students flew kites and relaxed after a day of taking TAKS tests.
April 26 – 27, 2008	4	The Young Women of AYRW had a retreat at the AYRW EcoHouse.
April 19, 2008	7 + 3 volunteers large community event	Earth Day 2008 – AYRW Students joined hundreds of other Austin citizens in a celebration of Earth Day. They demonstrated water quality monitoring techniques and helped some community members to learn about some of the tests we do. They also met much of the Austin Water Utility staff that supports this program and helped them to pass out materials to community members.
April 14 – 18, 2008	27	Students wrote articles, drew pictures and came up with games like crossword puzzles and word finds for the AYRW newsletter, The Flying Fish Review.
March 25 – 31	31	Career Exploration and Life Skills Activity: Students used local job finder guides, apartment and home buyers guides, the internet and local newspapers to find jobs that pay for the type of lifestyle they want to lead, created a budget, found living accommodations and found out what level of education and experience are necessary for the jobs.
March 19, 2008	6	AYRW Students planted the Spring Garden in the backyard at the AYRW EcoHouse.
March 13, 2008	5	AYRW Students swam in the second largest Spring Fed pool in Texas at Balmorhea State Park – another desert oasis on the last day of the trip before returning home to our native ecotone region in central Texas.
March 12, 2008	5	Today AYRW students had ice cream in the village at Castolon and then hiked and played in Santa Elena Canyon. The Rio Grande has continuously down cut through the rock as the cliff face has risen here creating an incredible canyon. Students enjoyed skipping stones in the river, looking for macroinvertebrates, waving hello to river goers and playing softball at the base of the canyon, in the shadow of its great walls. From here we drove through the desert to our final oasis of the 2008 Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure – the San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea State Park.
March 11, 2008	5	AYRW students continued our Big Bend Adventure by hiking in Boquillas Canyon where aeolian sand deposits and the Rio Grande provided hours of engagement with the landscape. On our way back toward the Basin, we stopped at the Hot Springs where students enjoyed the warm waters of the springs and then dipped into the cool waters of the Rio Grande. The students saw pictographs and petroglyphs on the canyon walls here left behind by the native people who once lived near the hot springs. Students also experienced the coolness of the shade amongst large clumps of tall grasses and palm trees.
March 10, 2008	5	AYRW students ventured into Big Bend National Park. We went to the Basin and set up our camp where we would be for two nights. After we set up camp, we hiked the Window Trail to a large V- Shaped outlook on the Mountain that showed like a window overlooking the desert.
March 9, 2008	5	AYRW students, coordinator and one River Watch Mom volunteer, Dr. Darlene Reesor loaded up in the van and drove West from the prairies of East Austin across the hill country into the desert and mountain country in South West Texas. We stayed the night at Post Park in Brewster County. It was such a treasure of a place with a deep oasis surrounded by grass, tall trees and high cliffs that attracted dozens of soaring vultures, riding the thermals created by the uplift at Sunset.
March 7, 2008	8	AYRW students helped prepare for Spring Break by checking the tents, testing equipment and making sure all supplies were ready to load into the van.
February 25, 2008	3	AYRW EcoHouse Volunteer Day: AYRW students painted parts of the Colorado River watershed onto the floor in the Mural Room at the AYRW EcoHouse.
February 23, 2008	2	AYRW Students helped present for 30 Capitol Area Master Naturalists.
February 2, 2008	3	AYRW students joined hundreds of volunteers from all over the city to plant 2008 trees provided by TreeFolks for their annual planting event, this year called Tree 2008. Students worked in a group of about 50 people to first plant trees in Patterson Park and then at the intersection of MLK and Airport Blvd.
January 25, 2008	8	AYRW students helped take and sort the recycling from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center downtown at 9th St. and IH-35.
January 14 – 18, 2008	31	AYRW students set three goals each for the semester: a River Watch Goal, a School Goal and a Home or Personal Goal.
December 10 – 14, 2007	33	AYRW students evaluated themselves on their three goals for the semester.
November 19, 2007	8	AYRW students attended the the Save Barton Creek Association Annual Meeting where they were treated to stories of local environmental heroism and a tasty turkey dinner. The students met many local elected officials and other active community members including two of the founders of Austin Youth River Watch and a River Watch graduate.
November 16, 2007	8	Program Coordinator hosted 8 science teachers and other community members as part of the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching. The science teachers came from all over the state of Texas. The program coordinator lead the teachers through a benthic macroinvertebrate training where the participants learned and practiced the skills of collecting water bugs, sorting and identifying them and then using a rubric to analyze the meaning of their findings.
November 15, 2007	2	AYRW students helped the Program Coordinator prepare all of the field lab materials for the CAST field trip for the next day.
November 3, 2007	6	The young women of AYRW had a campout at the Texas Nature Conservancy’s Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. The students tested water, identified fish, birds and native plants and discussed the habitats of the two species of endangered birds that use the habitat preserve for their survival.
October 20 – 21, 2007	6	AYRW Young Women’s Retreat at the AYRW EcoHouse: students listened for night sounds and watched movies while they got to know students from other AYRW groups.
October 18, 2007	4	Students tested water at Hornsby Bend for World Water Monitoring Day.
October 13, 2007	4	AYRW students volunteered for the Green City Festival where they taught citizens about water quality and demonstrated some of the tests. The students also learned about many of the interesting environmentally oriented work going on in Austin. Program Coordinator spoke with a forum of other environmental youth programming folks.
October 6, 2007	6+ 20	AYRW students met with about 20 other students from different schools up and downstream from Austin at the LCRA Colorado River watch Network Student Symposium. The AYRW students talked about our part of the river and learned from other students about the river in the areas where they came from.
September 11, 2007	4	AYRW student did a frog count in the greenhouse at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant and looked at ducks on the ponds there.
September 7, 2007	6	AYRW students helped paint the mural on the wall of the student mural room at the AYRW EcoHouse.
August 27 – 31	27	Students set AYRW, personal and academic goals for the semester.
August 21, 2007	5 AYRW Students and a few hundred other community members	AYRW students served cake and ice cream at the Birth Day Party for John Henry Faulk, for whom Austin’s Main Library is named, and watched a film at the Zilker Hillside Theater about his life and about his defense of the first amendment of the US Constitution.

AYRW Home
Calendar 2006 – 2007

July 30, 2007	4	Students had hoped that this date would be a canoeing day but the water in Town Lake was still too stirred up from the flooding so instead, the students went rock climbing at the Austin Rock Gym – South.
July 23, 2007	3	Students had hoped that this date would be a canoeing day but the water in Town Lake was still too stirred up from the flooding so the students visited the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve where they met Habitat Steward, Brandon Crawford, of the Nature Conservancy of Texas Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students asked him about his job and his education background and other career-related questions and then visited the creek.
July 10-12, 2007	12	AYRW students had final day pizza parties at Double Daves by UT and evaluated themselves on their summer goals.
July 5-12, 2007	15	AYRW students did photo monitoring points at four sites to document the high level of the water at their sites.
June 28 – July 3, 2007	14	AYRW students went to Mansfield Dam to see the awesome power of the water exploding through the enormous floodgates from Lake Travis into Lake Austin.
June 27 – 28, 2007	Rain Bomb	20 inches of Rain fell in 24 hours including 11 inches in a three hour period upstream of Austin in the community of Marble Falls. This extreme weather event, called a “rain bomb” was produced when three major storm systems converged over the Texas Hill Country along the Colorado River. AYRW students learned about the weather event, about flood safety and witnessed first hand the power of the water. 21 flood gates were opened including at least one flood gate at every dam on the highland lakes system as well as Longhorn Dam. And AYRW students traveled upstream to see Mansfield Dam, Tom Miller Dam and Longhorn Dam.
June 27, 2007	3	Students looked a floodwaters coming through Longhorn Dam and then attended a BBQ for VIPs with the Austin to Bastrop River Corridor Partnership in Big Webberville Park. The students were introduced and spoke with the public officials and involved citizens at the BBQ.
June 26, 2007	7	AYRW students counted green tree frogs in the Greenhouse at Hornsby Bend
June 25, 2007	5	AYRW Students attempted to go canoeing but got rained out after a very short time on the water. Canoes were generously provided by Zilker Park Boat Rentals.
June 23, 2007	4	AYRW students went climbing at the South Austin Rock Gym.
June 21, 2007	5	Students climbed Mt. Bonnell, visited two of Austin’s dams to see the power of the water, learned about riparian areas and 100 year flood plains and also watched segments of the film, An Inconvenient Truth, back at the AYRW EcoHouse.
June 20, 2007	2	Stormy weather prevented the usual group from assembling but the students who came got to visit two of Austin’s dams to see the power of the water, learn about riparian areas and 100 year flood plains and also to watch segments of the film, An Inconvenient Truth, back at the AYRW EcoHouse.
June 14, 2007	5	Students visited the Tabor tract of the Water Quality Protection Lands in far south Austin and conducted a sampling event for benthic macroinvertebrates – water bugs.
June 12, 2007	8	Students climbed Mt. Bonnell.
June 9, 2007	2	Volunteer Day at AYRW EcoHouse – Students and their families came and volunteered at the EcoHouse – painting and learning about the inexpensive and earth friendly materials used at the house.
June 7, 2007	4	AYRW students learned to enter the AYRW data online through the web portal on the LCRA CRWN website, so that the public can have the fastest access to our data.
June 5, 2007	5	AYRW students toured the LCRA’s Colorado River Watch Network lab and met all the staff, interns and volunteers there.
June4,11,15 & 18, 2007	13	AYRW Summer Leadership students toured Inner Space Caverns and discussed karst aquifers and how they form. Students also explored the life in the cave and found cave crickets as well as the albino cave dwelling phenotype of the native cliff chirping frog.
June 4-7, 2007	18	Summer Leadership program Begins – Students in Summer Leadership Program set goals for the summer and discuss safety strategies. This would prove to be the wettest, coolest summer on record for Austin, Texas.
May 31, 2007		Program Coordinator spoke with the Ecologistas at the Mesas de trabajo, the Environmentalists at the work sessions as part of the Sister City visit from citizens of Coahuila, Mexico. Environmental Leaders and teachers from Coahuila discussed the importance of youth involvement in environmental stewardship.
May, 2007	10	AYRW Student Graduations
5/10/, 2007	4	Students helped sort the recycling into the collection bins at Ecology Action.
May 6, 2007	3	Seniors were treated to dinner at Huts Hamburgers in downtown Austin in celebration of their coming graduations.
April 24, 2007	2 AYRW students +24 LBJ High School students	Teamed with LCRA and City of Austin staff biologists to lead a water quality monitoring event for the AP Environmental Science class of Tim Fennell of LBJ High School. Two AYRW students who were in the class also helped lead activities in chemical and meter based tests as well as biomonitoring.
April 23- May 9, 2007	37 approx	AYRW students filled out end of year evaluations of AYRW and also evaluated themselves on how they did with their AYRW, school and personal goals for the semester.
April 21, 2007	Public Event	Students demonstrated Water Quality monitoring on Town Lake at the 2.5 mile marker along the Hike and Bike Trail in celebration of Earth Day.
April 27 , 2007	8	Students also looked at the migratory birds on the ponds at Hornsby Bend.
April 17, 2007	10	AYRW students stopped for free Ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s free Ice Cream day near their school.
April 16-20, 2007	37	Students wrote articles, drew pictures and came up with games like crossword puzzles and word finds for the AYRW newsletter, The Flying Fish Review.
April 14-15, 2007	3	AYRW Young Men’s campout at Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Students tested water and swam in Barton Creek, made s’mores and camped out at the site. In the morning the boys found their way on a compass course set up and lead by AYRW Board President, Charles Freeman.
April 3, 2007	7	AYRW students met up with UT Masters students, Peg Wallace. She talked with the students about the ecology of Redbud Isle, one of the AYRW water monitoring locations and introduced the AYRW students to her team of undergraduate students from UT.
March26 – 30, 2007	30	Rain the whole week – so students were introduced to several educational games at the AYRW EcoHouse including Apples to Apples and Scrabble.
March 14, 2007	7	Students came home to Austin to enjoy the rest of their Spring Break.
March 13, 2007	7	Plans changed. One student got the flu and her parents came to San Antonio to pick her up. Also, AYRW was to take students to see the Alamo and then continue on the theme of Oceans and coastal ecosystems by taking students through the coastal plain to camp on the beach at the new LCRA nature center at the mouth of the Colorado River. But a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms made us revise our plans. So the students toured the historic district of downtown San Antonio instead. AYRW students visited the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas, and walked along the River Walk.
March 12, 2007	8	Students enjoyed the various rides and animal habitats at Sea World and then stayed the night at one of the local churches, Los Angeles Heights UMC.
March 11, 2007	8	AYRW Young Women’s Spring Break EcoLearning Adventure students traveled from Austin to San Antonio. At Sea World the students toured the site, visited and learned about all of the animals who are kept there and stayed the night in the viewing room of the Shark Aquarium.
February 28, 2007	6	AYRW students and Interns visited Oak Springs, “Barton Springs of the East Side” and discussed the issues facing the site and the hydrogeology at the site.
February 27 – March6, 2007	34	Students discussed healthy living topics such as healthy weights, diets and exercises.
February 27, 2007	7	Students viewed dinosaur tracks at a different location at Wild Basin Preserve with staff Geologist, Joe Beach.
February 24, 2007	5	AYRW Young Women’s Campout at Bastrop State Park – students camped and took a nature hike through the pine tree forest and noticed ferns growing in the trees and on the ground.
February 8-14, 2007	32	Students used local job finder guides, apartment and home buyers guides, the internet and local newspapers to find jobs that pay for the type of lifestyle they want to lead, created a budget, found living accommodations and found out what level of education and experience are necessary for the jobs.
February 7, 2007	2	1st Day for UT Geography Intern Katie Peché
February 3, 2007	8	Several Members of the work group of Board Member, Stephanie Thompson, from Watershed Concepts, volunteered at the AYRW EcoHouse – helping to lay out the map of Austin’s Creeks and the River on the room scale map on the floor in the student office and using Ecologically friendly paint and cleaning materials.
January 29 and 31, 2007	Community meeting and television audience	AYRW Program Coordinator presented for the Board of the Save Barton Creek Association and for Austin News Reel on Public Access television. The presentations discussed AYRW, the living organisms in and along Austin’s creeks and river and the impacts AYRW has on Austin’s community.
January 25, 2007	5	1st Day for UT Geography major volunteer intern Rohini Lynn Shoenmann
January 18-24, 2007	32	Students set AYRW, personal and academic goals for the semester.
December 13, 2006	60 elementary	Program Coordinator and an AYRW Board Member judged science fair at local elementary school by the AYRW EcoHouse
December 11-15, 2006	29	Students evaluated themselves on their semester goals.
November 30, 2006	8	On a rainy afternoon, students came back to the EcoHouse early and watched the film, An Inconvenient Truth.
November 20, 2006	6	Students attended the Annual Meeting and Celebration of the Save Barton Creek Association where AYRW Coordinator, Elisabeth Welsh, was presented with a Leadership Award for outstanding service to her community and everyone was treated to a turkey dinner.
November 18, 2006	6	Young Women’s Retreat – Sleepover at the AYRW EcoHouse
November 14, 2006	8	Students tested water at Wild Basin and looked at dinosaur tracks with Wild Basin Staff Geologist, Joe Beach.
November 7, 2006	8	River Watch Graduate, Erving Lopez, visited with students and spoke about his career and education decisions.
October 27, 2006	7	Students took recycling materials from the AYRW EcoHouse to the Ecology Action Recycling Center across the street from the AYRW monitoring location on Waller Creek.
October 23-27, 2006	28	Students signed up for scholarship information and researched scholarships on FastWeb.com and did the mi-semester review of their goals.
October 19, 2006	4	Students worked with volunteer intern to install the Fall Garden.
October 16,18, & 20, 2006	14	AYRW students went back to check on the situation on Little Walnut Creek. On the 16th, the problem had not yet been cleaned up. But by the 18th it was starting to look better. By the 20th it was cleaned up.
October 14, 2006	5	Young men of the AYRW had a retreat at the AYRW EcoHouse.
October 13, 2006	7	AYRW students identified a water problem on Little Walnut Creek just upstream of Peyton Gin Rd. and called it in to the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department Environmental Hotline.
Septemeber 7, 2006	7 AYRW student + 3 volunteer interns and about 30 other students and teachers	Colorado River Watch Network Student Symposium – AYRW students met with other student groups who test water upstream and downstream. The Symposium was held at McKinney Roughs. Program Coordinator, Elisabeth Welsh, gave the motivational speech and education seminar about the wildlife in and around the water. Afterwards the students took an interpretive nature hike and had fun in rafts in Lake Bastrop.
September 27, 2006	1	AYRW student got to do the volcano experiment, mixing acid into a basic solution.
September 26, 2006	6	Students started seeds for the cool season garden.
September 19, 2006	5	Students met with Joe Beach, staff geologist at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. Joe showed the students several native grasses and talked with them about the importance of these grasses for water quality – erosion prevention and runoff filtration.
September 5, 2006	6	First Day of Volunteer Diego Dietche – student of Reed University attending classes at Austin Community College for the semester
September 5-11, 2006	24	As students came back to AYRW for the 2006 – 2007 School Year they learned a new water quality monitoring test – the Turbidity Tube. Students also set River Watch, Academic and Personal Goals for the Semester.

AYRW HomeCalendar 2005 – 2006
June 12 & 13 – July 19 & 20, 2006 Summer Leadership Program Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for AYRW Students this summer!
May 2006 Graduation Ceremonies
May 12, 2006 End of the AYRWP Spring Semester
April, 2006 Earth Day
April, 2006 Young Men’s Campout or Lock-in at the River Watch House
March 11-15, 2006 Spring Break Ecological Learning Adventure
February, 2006 Tree2006 – a planting of 2006 trees on Public lands around Austin with TreeFolks
February or first weekend of March, 2006 Young Women’s Campout or Lock-in at the River Watch House
January, 2006 Volunteer Day at the River Watch house on Platt Lane
January, 2006 Return from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
December, 2005 Last Day of Fall River Watch
October / November, 2005 24-Hour Water Quality Study
October 15, 2005 LCRA Student Symposium
August 19, 2005 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring and Tutoring Program
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Calendar 2004 – 2005
June 6&7 – July 13&14, 2005 Summer Leadership Program Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for AYRW Students this summer!
May 2005 Graduation Ceremonies
May 16, 2005 Senior Dinner
May, 2005 Guys Campout and Diel Study
May 13, 2005 End of the AYRWP Spring Semester
April, 2005 LCRA Spring Symposium
April, 2005 Earth Day
March 13 – 17, 2005 Spring Break Ecological Learning Adventure
February, 2005 Tree2005 – a planting of 2004 trees on Public lands around Austin with TreeFolks
February or first weekend of March, 2005 Young Women’s Campout – A lock-in at the River Watch House – painting a mural
January 17, 2005 Volunteer Day at the River Watch Eco-House on Platt Lane – Creating more gardens and painting
January 12, 2005 Return from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
December 12, 2004 Last Day of Fall River Watch
December 4, 2004 Volunteer Day at the River Watch house on Platt Lane
November 6, 2004 Young Men’s Campout
October 23, 2004 24-Hour Water Quality Study
October 16, 2004 Festival de las Plantas
October 9, 2004 Native Plants with First Unitarian Universalist Church volunteers
August 20, 2004 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
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Calendar 2003 – 2004
June, 2004 Summer Leadership Program – Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for 25 AYRW Students this summer!
May 30, 2004 7:00 pm – Erwin Center – Austin High School Graduation
May 29, 2004 8:30 pm – Erwin Center – LBJ High School Graduation
May 29, 2004 6:00 pm – Delco Center – Travis High School Graduation
May 29, 2004 12:00 noon – Erwin Center – Akins High School Graduation
May 29, 2004 9:30 am – Delco Center – Johnston High School Graduation
May 10, 2004 End of the AYRWP Spring Semester
May, 2004 LCRA Spring Symposium
April, 2004 Earth Day
April, 2004 Guys Campout and Diel Study
March 13 – 17, 2004 Spring Break Ecological Learning Adventure
February , 2004 Tree2004 – a planting of 2004 trees on Public lands around Austin with TreeFolks
February or first weekend of March, 2004 Young Women’s Campout – A lock-in at the River Watch House – painting a mural
January 10 and 19, 2004 Volunteer Days at the River Watch house on Platt Lane – Creating more gardens and painting
January 12, 2004 Return from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
December 12, 2003 Last Day of Fall River Watch
Late October, 2003 24-Hour Water Quality Study
October 18, 2003 – Click here for info about our Event Sponsors or visit www.texaswatch.geo.swt.edu 10th Anniversary Celebration
August 19, 2003 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
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Calendar 2002 – 2003
June 9 and 10, 2003 Summer Leadership Program -Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for 25 AYRW Students this summer!
June 2, 2003 8:00 pm – Erwin Center – Crockett High School Graduation
June 1, 2003 7:00 pm – Erwin Center – Austin High School Graduation
May 31, 2003 8:30 pm – Erwin Center – Akins High School Graduation
May 30, 2003 8:30 pm – Delco Center – Johnston High School Graduation
May, 2003 10th Anniversary of the AYRW Celebration – Bringing together current and former Austin Youth River Watchers, their Families and AYRW Volunteers and Supporters
May 12, 2003 Last day of the AYRWP Spring Semester
May 3, 2003 LCRA Spring Symposium at McKinney Roughs
April 27, 2003 Earth Day Expo on Auditorium Shores
April 25 – 26, 2003 Guys only Beach Clean-Up at Matagorda (the mouth of the Colorado River Watershed)
April 12, 2003 BioBlitz – A Comprehensive Biological Inventory at Hornsby Bend
March 10 – 14, 2003 Environmental Education field trip
March 7 – 8, 2003 Texas Watch Meeting of the Monitors in Denton, Texas
February 1, 2003 Tree2003 – a planting of 2003 trees on Public lands around Austin with TreeFolks
February or first weekend of March, 2003 Young Women’s Campout and 24-Hour Water Quality Study – Leopold Education Project Activity
January 10, 2003 First Day back from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
December 9, 2002 Last Day of Fall River Watch
October, 2002 24-Hour Water Quality Study
September 2002 Beach Cleanup at Matagorda (the mouth of the Colorado River Watershed)
August 19, 2002 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
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Calendar 2001 – 2002
June 3 and 4, 2002 Summer Leadership Program – Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for 25 AYRW Students this summer!
May 13, 2002 Last day of the AYRWP Spring Semester
March 9 – 14, 2002 Environmental Education field trip
February, 2002 24-Hour Water Quality Study
January 8, 2002 First Day back from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
December 15, 2001 Last Day of Fall River Watch 2001
November 17 – 29, 2001 Long Thanksgiving Holiday for River Watch. Start back on Saturday, December 1
October 27 – 28, 2001 24-Hour Water Quality Study
September 14 – 15, 2001 Beach Cleanup at Matagorda (the mouth of the Colorado River Watershed)
August 20, 2001 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
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Calendar 2000 – 2001
June 4 – July 19, 2001* Summer Leadership Program – Thanks to the Zilker Park Boat Rentals for providing Canoeing Experiences for 25 AYRW Students this summer!
May 14, 2001 Last day of the AYRWP Spring Semester
March 12 – 16, 2001 EPA sponsored environmental field trip # 2
February 9 – 10, 2001 EPA sponsored environmental field trip # 1
January 8, 2001 First Day back from Winter Break – Spring Semester Monitoring Begins
November 17 – 19, 2000 EPA sponsored environmental field trip # 1 Exploring our Watershed Downstream – The Colorado River From Austin to Matagorda Bay (Trip moved to summer / bad weather)
September 30 – October 1, 2000 AYRWP student diurnal at Bear Creek
August 21, 2000 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
June 05 – July 20, 2000 Austin Youth Summer Leadership Program
December 5 – 11, 2000 Last Monitoring Days for the Fall Semester
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Calendar from 1997 – 1998
June 15 – July 31, 1997 Austin Youth Summer Leadership Program
August 13, 1997 Beginning of Fall Water Monitoring Program
October 11-12, 1997 AYRWP student diurnal at McKinney Falls State Park
October 25-30, 1997 Alaskan Students visit Austin
October 25, 1997 Creek Watch Training (Chemical water monitoring) at Austin Nature Center
April 17-18, 1998 LCRA Student Symposium, Inks Lake State Park
April 17-18 1998 Earth Day- Waterloo Park CWRF Booth with AYRWP information
April 17-22, 1998 Alaskan and Texas students go to Washington
May 14, 1998 Last day of the AYRWP for 1998
June 15 – July 31 Summer Leadership Program 1998
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Content by AYRW
riverwatcher@ayrw.org
Updated 21 October, 2011