- Shirley Atkins, Apprentices teacher, grades one and two; Carrie Brunger, Journeyers teacher, grades three-five; Kim Petersen, Apprentices/Journeyers teacher, grades one-five
THE BLUE SNAKE
winding its way along the country
through quaking aspen forests,
dazzling golden in the fall,
and through patches of sprouting
cottonwood in the spring.
With the rain unpredictable ...
The white spruce has good growth.
I can just tell that the Clark Fork remembers
Native Americans
taking Ponderosa pine sap and chewing it.
“Bald eagles fish here!” I hear it bubble out.
“The squirrels depend on me to evaporate
so clouds form
and rain on the trees
that produce seeds for them!“
Hopefully
this river will
have a
bright future.
SILAS TEASDALE
Grade 3
SWIRLING DEVIL
Clark Fork River
I gush.
I foam.
I fizz and froth.
The Native Americans eat
the ponderosa pine I grow.
The native squirrels will flourish
in the nuts I help to provide
in the spring.
A Fox laps me up
with his tongue.
As the seasons go by
I freeze
and dry up.
I was healthy
and every drop of me clean.
I will be healthy again
when
Milltown Dam
comes
down!
EMMA NORTON
Grade 3
JOYS OF THE RIVER
Canoes sail near your rocky banks.
Trees shake in the distance.
Blackfoot elders
smoke bearberry
by your shores.
Deer
drink from you.
So fragile your water is ...
cold
in the winter,
hot
in the summer.
Lewis and Clark sailed on you.
I hope
you are
cleaner
in the
future.
COPELAND BURCHENAL
Grade 3
JOYFUL BIG MRS. RIVER
How Mrs. River?
How do you flow by me so fast?
How Mrs. River?
How do you grind rocks
to sand? How?
How Mrs. River?
How do you push me and my
tube down you? How?
Do you enjoy rolling and flowing past
towns, children, and animals?
How does it feel to make
thirsty animals happy and
hot kids cool?
And what is it like to have
toddlers laugh and wade in you?
How does it feel? How?
ISADORA SHANNON
Grade 4
RIVER
Clark Fork River
Wet
Rocky
Deep
Kinnikinick is bland
but it was used as tobacco.
Noble bear drink the river water.
The moist climate is perfect for living on.
This river is history itself.
This river
in time
will
change.
CY BURCHENAL
Grade 4
OLD COUNTRY RIVER
Old Country River.
You make me feel like I'm a fish.
“I may be old but I still run fast.
I run as fast as a wolf howling.
I go as slow as a moose eating.
I fall as graceful as an eagle on his wings.
I feel as young as a newborn brown elk.
I am rapid around the corners.
I am wet for the people.
I am calm and quiet for the old.
I am deep for the fishermen.
I can tell you many stories about
Native Americans and how they lived.
I can sit and listen to your stories.
I have all the time in the world.
I have seen many storms come and go.
I have been very hot in the sun
and very cold in the winter.
I am
the old
country river.”
NATALIE ABBOT
Grade 5
RIVER AND
WATERSHED POEMS
R ushing
I cy
V ery fast
E xciting
R oaring
S wooping
INGRID SHANNON
Grade 1
R ushing river
I n the forest
V arying in size
E ver downward
R iver
S licing through hill tops
JIM SEIELSTAD
Grade 1
RIVER
Gurgling, rushing, dashing over rocks,
Flowing freely through the forests,
Going fast, having fun,
Rushing past villages and towns
Heading for the ocean
With all sorts of animals
Drinking, playing, having fun,
All sorts of actions going on
DYLAN YONCE
Grade 1
R ushing
I cy water
V ery cold
E xciting
R oaring to the
S ea.
CORY HARRISON
Grade 1
The river is exciting like Disney World.
The river smells like the desert.
The river sounds like fish jumping.
The river moves like a caterpillar.
MICHAEL DESCHANE
Grade 1
The river is blue like my eyes.
The river smells good like flowers.
The river gurgles like water.
The river moves softly.
It feels good like me.
CASEY DONAHUE
Grade 1
R unning
I cy
V ery large
E veryone needs it
R ainbows reaching over
S liding to the sea.
NAT WILSON
Grade 1
The river is blue and green like kids
playing and like new grass.
The river smells fresh like tree sap.
The river sounds magical like a wand.
The river runs and swirls like dandelion wishes.
It feels freezing like an icicle.
ELAN WEST-BADMINTON
Grade 2
Rivers smell good like glorious cake.
Rivers are blue like the Egyptian sky.
Rivers whoosh like a wave in the ocean
and glide like an osprey.
Rivers feel cool like an ice cube.
People need rivers.
TANNER TERZO
Grade 1
R ushing rivers
I cy freezing rivers
V ery cold rivers
E very fish likes to swim in the river
R ivers are running machines
S plashing water is exciting.
ELAINA SWAB
Grade 2
W ater flows
A lways
T wisting and turning with
E nergy
R ushing
S omewhere
H umans
E njoy
D iving to the
S ea
DUNCAN MacDONALD
Grade 2
THE RIVER
Rushing, washing, rippling, freezing, hurrying, running
Flowing, gurgling, bubbling, splashing, exciting, tingling, pushing,
Crushing, softening, whirling, twirling, curving, curling, hurling.
SOPHIA LEONARD
Grade 2
The older students created six-page booklets documenting with words and drawings the Clark Fork River's journey. The artwork features one page from each
of the six books.
Page 1
My story of the Clark Fork River
EMMA NORTON
Page 2
My headwaters and watershed start at Warm Spring Creek and Silver Bow Creek. I have a migraine because of the mining they did next to me. I have copper, zinc and mercury in me. I have very little macroinvertebrate in me. The macroinvertebrate hide under my rock.
NATALIE ABBOT
Page 3
I meander through bushes and dirt. I come to Grant-Kohrs Ranch. I flow through the prairie and under a wooden bridge. I still have toxins in my water. Many little gray mice make tunnels in the prairie I flow through. There are no willows on my bank. I am on my way to Beavertail Hill State Park. I move on.
ISADORA SHANNON
Page 4
I'm rocky like a chocolate chip pancake. I am cut in two with a giant island. Eagles hunt fish out of me. I hear a crunch. Then bone falls back into me and sinks to the bottom of me. I see two osprey fighting over a fish. Then the fish falls back into me. I'm happy.
COPELAND BURCHENAL
Page 5
My recent history has been a little chaotic. For instance in the past century domesticated cattle have been a problem because the cows cause erosion. The mud falls in me which in turn makes silt which makes fish eggs to not hatch because they cannot breathe the silt. The second thing I'm fed up with is that psychotic mine at my pristine headwaters. Now wherever I go I feel really sick. All that copper, lead and mercury has given me a hundred year old headache.
CY BURCHENAL
Page 6
As I watch the fishermen walk away, I recall again kinnikinick getting plucked of their berries by Indians. Suddenly I'm going through Milltown Dam! Aaaaah!! Zinc blinds my eyes and copper stings my sides. I'm past it! Finally! With the Blackfoot River now in me, I feel better. I pass Sha-Ron, go through Lake Pend d'Oreille and into its river. Then I go into the Columbia River and to the Pacific Ocean.
SILAS TEASDALE
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