The Aux Sable Creek Watershed Coalition and Mazon River Stewardship Initiative invite you to participate in a program to involve youth in our local watersheds, the Get on T.R.A.C.K. With Illinois Prairies project.  T.R.A.C.K. stands for Teach, Read, Art, Culture and Kids Can Do It. 

Project Description:


Student shows off the square she painted in the Watershed QuiltAt the core of the project is the community quilt. The quilt integrates many of the T.R.A.C.K. initiatives, and is a means for achieving our dream, which is teaching kids about the environment around them. This year’s quilt has a prairie theme, and materials used will teach kids about the biodiversity that surrounds this ecosystem. Additionally when the quilt is created across school districts it will serve to create area-wide pride in our schools and engage us to the larger community. The quilt will be designed by children in both Kendall and Grundy Counties.

The featured book this year and the inspiration for the quilt design is “Butterfly Count”. The quilt centerpiece was created by two local artists using imagery and themes from the read-a-thon books, and is being painted by high school students.  Students participating in the project will be painting quilt squares to go around the centerpiece, and when the quilt is finished each school will have a turn displaying it.  The quilt will also be displayed for public enjoyment at local libraries, the Kendall Go Green Fair and the Grundy Earth Expo.

Along with participating in the quilt project, students will be reading books about nature and the environment.  The books were chosen to help students recognize the beauty and wonder that exists near their schools and in their own back yards and challenge them to help keep creeks and rivers clean.  Every student in a participating grade level will be part of the Read-a-Thon.  Each week about five books will be provided per classroom, and students will sign up to pass around and read the books.  A prairie poster will be hung outside of each classroom with a prairie grass stem for each child in the class.  Each time a student completes a book, he or she will build their flower by adding a petal.  If they complete three of the assigned books in a week, they get to add three flower parts.  Each week the classroom will get new books to read, and the classroom that reads the most books will get a prize!  In addition, the student who reads the most books of any in the school will get to choose a book from the lending library and receive a copy of it to keep.  

We are seeking local sponsorships to cover project expenses.  Organizations, businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring the project are encouraged to contact Joan Soltwisch or Tammi Janel.

The Watershed Quilt Project is a grassroots effort inspired by a program initiated in the Nature Quilt Project in Macomb, Illinois.  Our local version of the project builds on recommendations of the recent Aux Sable Creek Watershed Plan that recommends introducing the concepts of watersheds and stormwater management in the classroom as well as working on programs with children such as precipitation monitoring, runoff tracing, stream monitoring and analysis, and habitat assessments.

This project is supported, in part, by an Illinois EPA Section 319 grant for the Aux Sable Creek Watershed.  It is also partially supported by the Community Foundation of Grundy County.  The Conservation Foundation, a local not-for-profit 501c3 organization who’s mission is to preserve land and protect streams is the fiscal agent for the watershed organizations involved in this project.

Project Information

  • Quilt species & descriptions:

    More to come!  We hope to list information about all the animals featured in our watershed quilt.

  • Painted quilt squares

More to come!  We hope to provide some pictures of painted quilt squares soon.

 

Who to Contact

 

Thank You Sponsors!