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Robinson Scholars Become “Water Pioneers”
By
Jeff
Franklin
 JABEZ, Ky., (June 27, 2007) – It may sound a bit ironic for a
program called Water Pioneers to take place during drought
conditions in Kentucky. But if it rained like it did on the
second day of this year’s program, organizers said they would
take those chances every time.
The week-long program was held at the Kentucky Leadership Center
near Lake Cumberland. The idea for Water Pioneers trickled down
from the Kentucky Forestry Leadership Program, where high school
students gathered to study about the forest and learn about
managing natural resources. The key word is leadership, and
that’s what is at the core of the University of Kentucky’s
Robinson Scholars Program.
Robinson Scholars are high school students – one student from
each of 29 eastern Kentucky counties with historically low rates
of college attendance. All students will be sophomores in the
fall and will receive scholarships following high school
graduation. The students were selected for the program as eighth
graders and are first-generation, college-bound students who
have demonstrated the potential to succeed but who might
encounter economic, cultural or institutional impediments to
completing a four-year college degree.
The region where the students come from has always been plagued
with water issues. Water Pioneers was created so the students
could learn more about the importance of water and the process
of how clean water gets to their homes.
 “Everybody needs water, and everybody depends on it on a daily
basis, and so we put together this program so the students could
have a focus,” said Doug McLaren, UK extension forestry
specialist, who helped facilitate the program. “We mixed in a
lot of other natural resource issues.”
McLaren said at the end of the week the students would design a
plan about tackling water issues for their county to share with
leaders and their peers.
UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. designated Water Pioneers as a
Commonwealth Collaborative - a vision for turning UK's research
resources toward addressing and solving problems holding back
the state's economic and cultural progress.
Leaders of the Robinson Scholars Program approached the Kentucky
Water Resources Research Institute, located at UK, about
creating the Water Pioneers Program. Stephanie Jenkins, program
director for the Institute, turned to the UK Cooperative
Extension Service to help facilitate the program.
“It was the perfect fit,” she said. “They didn’t have any
science, water or environmental-type programs. So we were able
to fill that niche for them – maybe some science-related careers
and also give them some stewardship skills and abilities for the
students.”
Students said one of the program’s highlights was taking a net
and skimming the surface of a spring fed pond as the rain
lightly fell on the water. No one seemed to mind the much-needed
rain, but instead focused on what they might find in the net.
Blake Newton assisted the students with the project. Newton, UK
extension specialist for 4-H and youth entomology, said he finds
it hard to contain his excitement over what the net may yield.
“You can’t help it when you are an entomologist, or any kind of
biologist, when you see an animal, you get excited,” Newton
said. “When I pull those creatures out of the water in a net, I
never quite know what we are going to get, and the students
definitely don’t know what we are going to get. It’s always very
exciting for me and the students get excited as well.”
 Amy Evans’ face lit up when she looked into the net to discover
what she caught. The Robinson Scholar from Whitley County said
she was looking forward to the rest of the week at Water
Pioneers and what it might hold.
“It’s a great experience and really interesting and we have
learned a lot of things,” she said. “Maybe I will want a career
in this some day.”
Another Robinson Scholar, Lee County’s Megan Roach, said she was
approaching Water Pioneers without any preconceived ideas.
“It helps you keep an open mind, because you are going to have
to keep an open mind through college,” she explained. “It helps
you look at things in a different perspective.”
One of the reasons for being at Water Pioneers is learning about
how to prevent water pollution and Roach said she thinks that
can happen.
“There’s a lot of pollution and it can be prevented very easily,
if you just take the time to stop and think about it,” Roach
added.
McLaren said ultimately, the goal of Water Pioneers is to
challenge the students to think.
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Contact: Doug McLaren 859-257-2703
Stephanie Jenkins 859-257-1299
Blake Newton 859-257-7453
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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