RiverWorks Expands Waterways Knowledge For High School Students
The Waterways Journal
21 November 2011
By David Murray
How important are the waterways? What kinds of jobs exist on the
waterways? How did the people who work there, get there? Is this a
place where I
could work someday?
The "Who Works the Rivers" program for high school students is
jointly sponsored by RiverWorks Discovery and the Waterways
Association of Pittsburgh. The program first provokes these
questions, then provides answers for hundreds of high school
students looking for a way ahead in an uncertain economy. The
program's success has led to its expansion and new sponsors, and
has inspired other communities with important river industries.
From its origin in Pittsburgh. Pa., the program has recently
expanded to Mobile, Ala. New sponsors include Cooper Marine, the
Alabama State Port Authority, the Mobile County Soil and Water
Conservation District. GulfQuest, the Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway
Association, and the Mobile Engineer District.
RiverWorks Discovery's program is the only national river
education curriculum that includes the story of inland waterways
navigation as part of its content. The hope is that at least some
of the eager students experiencing the program may find their way
to the rivers, to provide the next generation
of river workers — and, perhaps, leaders.
The program's interactive displays, including two large-scale
puzzles of commercial towboats and a working model of a lock and
dam, were showcased at
the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas during the September
SmartRivers conference in New Orleans. The programs sponsors in
New Orleans included AEP River Operations, Associated Terminals,
Ingram. the Port of New Orleans, St. James Stevedoring, and Turn
Services, who provided RWD programming to more than 700 children
during a three day period.
RWD also exhibited at the recent National Waterways Conference in
Fort Worth, Texas and the Waterways Council Inc.'s Annual
Symposium in Pittsburgh. Pa.
The first "Who Works the Rivers?" program was offered in
Pittsburgh last fall aboard the Gateway Clipper Fleet in
partnership with Waterways Association of Pittsburgh.
RWD's partner RiverQuest presented an interactive session using
material from RWD's " Energy and Our Rivers" curriculum created by
the National Energy Education Development Project.
Following the group session, students attended a mini-career fair
and met representatives from a full range of river industries,
from non-profit to military to recreational to industrial.
"The goal is to give the students more information about the
opportunities for jobs and careers in the river sector," said
RiverWorks Discovery program director Errin Howard.
Hands-on artifacts and activities, along with time to enjov the
ride on the river, helped make the job fair atmosphere more fun
for the students. said Howard.
"Pre- and post-tests of previous events were so encouraging that
the Pittsburgh Waterways Association is now offering the program
three times, once in
the fall, spring and summer," she said.
Follow-ups showed that after exposure to the program, 64 percent
of students had a greater knowledge of the kinds of jobs available
in the waterways industries, 75 percent demonstrated an improved
knowledge of why rivers and waterways are important to Pittsburgh,
and 64 percent showed interest in the waterways as a possible
place to work.
RiverWorks Discovery and Who Works the Rivers are programs of the
Smithsonian Affiliated National Rivers Hall of Fame, located at
the National
Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque. Iowa.