Three students from Schuylkill County will go on an educational adventure this weekend to learn more about the Schuylkill River Watershed.
Nicholas Trotter, a junior at Pine Grove Area High School; Emma Osenbach, a sophomore at Tamaqua Area High School; and Margot Shrift, who just graduated from Pottsville Area High School, will go on the seven day trip.
They were chosen by members of the Schuylkill Headwaters Association after submitting an application expressing their interest in the environment and sending a letter of recommendation, Sierra Gladfelter, outreach and education coordinator for the Schuylkill Headwaters Association, said Wednesday.
Twenty applications were submitted from Schuylkill, Berks, Montgomery, Chester and Philadelphia counties, Gladfelter said.
During the event titled Schuylkill Acts & Impacts: An expedition to inspire watershed action, the teens will take water quality samples, visit a coal mine, tour farms and participate in other events to learn about the watershed.
Members of Schuylkill Headwaters and those from Outward Bound Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization, will accompany the teens on their trip.
Students will camp out in tents for the duration. On Saturday, they will spend time on Locust Lake in Barnesville learning how to paddle and doing team building exercises.
On Monday and June 12 they will ride down the Schuylkill River. Water samples will be taken to measure the water quality of the river.
They will depart from The Island in Schuylkill Haven on Monday and go to Port Clinton. On June 12, they will enter the water at Flat Rock Dam in Lower Merion Township and paddle to Boathouse Row in Philadelphia.