Oponski: Spencer teacher on the move

(Photo submitted) Spencer High School senior, Mary Krull, on her first day of her water quality "senior seminar" experience at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.

Chris Oponski is on a mission to develop a program that will help Spencer students realize the district's mission: Learning today ... Leading tomorrow.

In her newly-created position, Oponski is also inviting other Spencer teachers to dream.

"My job is to remove some of the obstacles and lift the veil for the teachers and say, 'Hey, here's a great opportunity for kids. I will work alongside you, just tell me what you want your students to experience and let's make it happen.'"

As the district's Iowa Lakeside Laboratory coordinator, Oponski, who is marking her third year as a Spencer teacher, finds herself rotating between her Spencer High School classroom, the district's other school buildings, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and potential partners' establishments. As a job in development, her charge is to look at and create opportunities for all Spencer students to extend their learning beyond the boundaries of the classroom walls.

District plans include involving more students in an environmental focus or an outdoor classroom facility, such as what is offered at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. The 147-acre campus located on Little Miller's Bay on West Lake Okoboji is owned by the state and operated through the Board of Regents. Its mission is twofold: To provide science classes and research opportunities, and to offer public programs and provide services. Besides allowing Spencer students to use the facilities on site, lessons about stewardship and other things that they can carry through their lives are anticipated to occur.

Oponski considers Spencer's model approach, in combination with the area's unique resources, "extremely progressive."

"We're always looking for opportunities to make kids' learning relevant and more real-world experience like," she said. "Plus, this is exciting because I think it's something the kids will really benefit from by having this opportunity."

The opportunities offered to students through this new model appear to be endless. Besides being open to all ages, students can participate in cross curricular activities their teachers design, Spencer's Iowa Lakeside Laboratory coordinator said.

What have Spencer students done so far?

SHS senior Mary Krull, who has an interest in science, is spending two Tuesday afternoons each month working with chemist Dennis Heimdal at Lakeside's Bovbjerg Water Chemistry Lab, which is operated through a partnership with the University Hygienic Lab in Iowa City. For her "senior seminar" experience, Krull is taking water samples from four sources on the property which drain directly into West Lake Okoboji.

"Mary is pulling these samples and testing them for dissolved oxygen, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphorus. She's also testing for pH and E. coli," Oponski explained. "Hopefully at the end she'll be able to prepare a report on the differences of the four sites and what's going directly into West Lake Okoboji. Our hope is that the work she's doing will be helpful to different organizations and even some protective organizations for the lake."

Another handful of SHS students participated in the 20th North American Diatom Symposium, hosted Sept. 20-27, at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory near Milford. There, they mingled with world-renowned professionals interested in the study of the single-celled alga and fresh water ecosystems. The students not only became acclimated with the scientific jargon used, but attempted to place themselves in the presenters' shoes as they detailed their work on diatom investigations.

"The kids were fascinated," Oponski said. "Just the interaction between the professionals was good for them to see this is how a good professional presentation goes. They had anywhere from thesis students to post-doctorates and people working off NSF (National Science Foundation) grant money represented there."

In her attempt to design a program which will allow Spencer students to receive credits toward graduation by participating in a community service project, Oponski has also turned to Spencer's alternative high schoolers to work alongside volunteers collecting seed for a prairie restoration project on site. Following last Tuesday's two-hour work session, an Iowa Lakeside Laboratory staff member visited with the students about the impact their actions will have in re-establishing the prairie to its original state.

Emma Whittenburg and Tyler Ehrig, two up-and-coming artists enrolled in classes at the district's alternative school, have sketched wildflowers and native plants picked in the area. According to Jane Shuttleworth, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory's education coordinator, plans are to use the students' sample drawings as illustrations in an upcoming taxonomic key that will allow visitors to identify what they find on the property.

What's being planned next?

While Oponski's short-term goal is to have groups of Spencer students involved in various activities and more long-term longitudinal studies at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory this school year, she'd also like to identify some target grade levels representing the different developmental stages of kids.

"I think my biggest goal right now is to make sure it doesn't become pigeon holed to something that just talented and gifted kids do or just the at-risk population does or just the high school. This needs to be something that all of our students have an opportunity to experience in their time that they're in Spencer schools," she said. "Longer range than that, I would like to have something that other school districts in Iowa could model, but modify to their particular needs."

The district representative said she'd also like to encourage professionals from area businesses, organizations and entities to consider collaborating with students in teachable moments.

"I'd love for it to be something that even adults learn from what the kids are doing," Oponski said.