Minnesota Sea Grant

Special Event:
Living Lands and Water Presentation:
By Chad Pregracke,
May 14, 7:15 p.m.

St. Louis River Quest
May 14-17, 2012

Boatloads of area sixth-grade students, carrying "passports" to document their adventures, will travel through educational stations on the Vista Star and, for the first time, in Pioneer Hall at the DECC. The River Quest 2012 program is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a continued focus on the St. Louis River.

St. Louis River Quest 2012, scheduled for May 14-17, will draw almost 1,200 sixth-graders from 13 schools in the Duluth-Superior area, bringing the total number of students who have benefited from the program to more than 16,000 since its inception in 1993.

River Quest will provide hands-on learning activities for students in order to raise their awareness of the St. Louis River ecosystem and interrelated commercial, industrial and recreational activities. During two-and-one-half-hour sessions offered in the morning and afternoon, students will visit 12 learning stations staffed by volunteers who cover topics ranging from pollution prevention and stopping aquatic invaders, to boating safety and commercial shipping.

After the event, the sixth-graders will be encouraged to write about their experiences in an essay or a poem and enter their work in a writing contest. The Ray Skelton Award, named after one of the founders of River Quest, will be presented to the winner of the writing contest.

2012 River Quest Sponsors:

Financial support for this year's program provided by:

Platinum ($1,000+)

Duluth Public Schools, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Holcim (US) Inc.,
Sappi Fine Paper, Vista Fleet

Gold ($500+)

Marine Tech, Minnesota Power, Minnesota Sea Grant Program, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Western Lake Superior Sanitary District

Silver ($250+)

Fraser Shipyards, Gavilon Grain,
Hallett Dock Co., Midwest Energy Resources Co., NewPage, Subway

Bronze ($100+)

Allouez Marine,
Grandma's Restaurant Co.

Steel

National Bank of Commerce