P.E.R.K.

PERK will be hosting a series of talks beginning on October 30, 2019! StreamFest 2019: Salmon and Sustainability, a Family Fun event the day before Halloween while the salmon are homing to our streams! Join us at Kenmore City Hall's Council Chambers between 5pm-7:30pm to hear Sammy the Salmon and Tom Murdoch tell the Story of the Salmon's Life History and Aditi Jain from Inglemoor High School tell us about Sustainability Ambassadors in our Community. This will launch a year long effort to connect our greater community through fun events and scientific speakers! More information to follow! We plan to use our interactive map methods and technology to learn, have fun, and stay healthy! Stay tuned for more information!

PERK members have participated in the previous meetings;  we hope you can join tomorrow,  on Thursday April 18, 2019:  

Join us on Thursday, April 18th at Finn Hill Middle School (8040 NE 132nd Street, Kirkland, WA 98034) for the third of three public meetings to discuss proposed alternatives for the St. Edward Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC). The EERC will be housed on the St. Edward seminary campus and serve as a regional hub for field learning and environmental research opportunities for students, neighbors and park visitors.

At its April 18th meeting, the EERC Planning Team will present a set of proposed program components for the operation and management of the St. Edward EERC. Building upon months of research, conversation and planning with community members and educators, the program components will address several key themes:

Community Science for Stewardship

There is strong interest from neighbors and educators in discovering the real-world science unfolding at St. Edward State Park. Local colleges and community members want to be involved in research on plant, birds and wildlife--and they want to help use this knowledge to guide stewardship and restoration within the park.

K-12 Education

Science learning is strengthened by field study, and while Washington state has strong environmental education programs, only 20% of students statewide are being served. Local nature-based educators cannot meet current demand, and area school districts stand to benefit from increased programming in their backyard.

Workforce Development

Environmental education programs coupled with strong mentorship programs can provide pathways to education and careers in STEM-related fields. This begins with preschoolers exploring, for example, puddles and continues through to high school students working with undergraduate mentors on water quality surveys and watershed health.

The St. Edward State Park EERC planning process is a joint project of Washington State Parks and the University of Washington-Bothell. Following the April 18th meeting, the EERC Planning Team will develop a set of recommendations and proposed business plan to be delivered to the State Parks Commission by June.  For more information, visit https://www.uwb.edu/research/facilities/st-edward.

About St. Edward State Park

St. Edward is the among the most heavily used of Washington’s state parks. Its forested slopes, undeveloped shoreline, streams and wetlands are home to bats, owls, woodpeckers, deer, and other wildlife. Its trails attract walkers, trail runners and mountain bikers year-round.

The former St. Edward Seminary, now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, is currently under renovation by Daniels Real Estate, LLC, a private development firm specializing in historic preservation. The building will open as an 82-room lodge in 2020, with a portion of the complex repurposed to house the St. Edward Environment and Education Research Center.

Hope to see you there!

Elizabeth

There will be a second meeting this coming Thursday, February 21, 2019, at Kenmore City Hall regarding the creation of the Environmental Education and Research Center at St. Edward Park.  Susan Carlson sent me the email below.   PERK Board members participated at the first meeting held at UW Bothell on January 23, 2019.  Daniels' Hotel project at the historic Seminary Building is moving forward. How the surrounding trails/darkness/wetlands/streams/trees/natural habitat at St. Edward Park (and its surrounding habitat on the shores of Lake Washington) will be protected is at stake now. Who will be the stewards of the park? Who will do the research to describe the state of nature that presently exists at St. Edward Park, so that it may be protected and restored for future generations?  Your input is welcomed. Many opportunities to comment exist, such as voicing preferences on what will ultimately happen to the existing "ballfield" open space that some want to stay green and the present city council has wanted to turn into an artificially lighted, artificially turfed field?  We need voices to state their preferences at these meetings, so that the St. Edward State Park Environmental Education and Research Center can do its best job of creating relevant education and research.  I hope it will help organizations like PERK foster environmental education and protection far into the future. We are hoping to protect threatened or endangered species.  Habitat is needed to do so. If we want to promote protection of salmon in our streams, marbled murrelets in our trees and orcas in our Puget Sound, we must protect habitat in our connected habitats, from St. Edward Park all the way to Puget Sound.  We need to learn how best to do that via partnerships and community education.  Submitted by Elizabeth Mooney, President of PERK.

St. Edward State Park Environmental Education and Research Center 
Public Meeting Announcement

Fabulous DAY in Kenmore! SEEKING DATA and promoting environmental education. July 12 PERK (perkinkenmore.org)hosted 20 UW Tacoma Math Science Leadership Camp students in Kenmore to do real science with mentors from the UW Tacoma and our PERK Community! After their data collection, students shared lunch with the community at City Hall and enjoyed speeches and inspiring discussions with UW Tacoma Counselors/Scientists/Mentors, Professor Robin Evans-Agnew, Mayor David Baker, our local Scientist Mentors/Speakers/Hosts, Richard Honour, Joan Hardy, David Bain, Jean Reid, Steve Colwell, Clyde Merriwether, David Ruggerone, Janet Hays, Patrick O'Brien, Hitoshi Maruyama and Jim Myers. Thank you to all, including Melodi, Leslie, Bryan (for this fabulous photo), City Manager Rob Karlinsey as well as City Council for a letting us use the City Council Chambers for the wrap up of a wonderful day.

STAY TUNED: The results of the July 12 2017 one day air monitoring experiments the Students conducted will be presented on July 28, 2017 at UW Tacoma Campus from 2pm-4pm. If interested in attending, email me at elizabeth.mooney47@gmail.com.

For us all to consider: Do we want to have a full fledged air monitoring program initiated in our community? We need resources to do so.