A middle school science club is teaming up with University of Washington-Tacoma (UWT) students on a science project that goes far beyond the classroom.

First Creek watershed, a long-time littered stream of largely storm water runoff on Tacoma’s East Side, is the focus of this water management and clean-up project that kicked off Jan. 18.

Students from First Creek Middle School’s environmental science club and environmental chemistry undergrads from UWT began collecting water and soil samples from the creek, which will be used to determine the actual level of contamination in the stream that flows into the Puget Sound and was once an active salmon run.

Because of the close proximity of the school to the creek, the middle-school students will play a key role in UWT’s in-depth water health study. The middle-schoolers will be able to collect samples from the creek on a regular basis, which they can test in their own lab, and then send to UWT for a more intricate look.

The middle-school students will also take a field trip to the college chemistry lab to see a high-tech laboratory in action. Partnership organizers hope this work will not only spark an ongoing interest in science for the young students, but also pave the way for improving the health of the creek and Puget Sound in the future.

Data collected from this partnership can be used by the city to determine how to manage, monitor and clean up the creek, and may become a model for other Puget Sound watershed management initiatives.

“This area has been really impacted by dumping, and synthetic chemicals,” said UWT Assistant Professor Joyce Dinglason-Panlilio. “We don’t know what the (contamination level is) because a study hasn’t been done before.”

As a part of a larger study of the creek as a whole, individual UWT students will focus on specific areas of study regarding the creek. Dinglason-Panlilio said a long-term plan is for the class to create a website for the creek research project which will give updates to the community on the website, and hopefully start to show progress in contaminants decreasing over time.

At the kick-off event, UWT students spent time educating the science club on various issues surrounding the health of the creek, before the students headed out to the site to learn how to properly collect sound samples. The university and First Creek students also worked with members of the Washington Conservation Corps on removal of garbage and invasive species.

Middle-schoolers involved in the project on their would-be day off from school said they were excited to partake in the study and the clean up.

“This is showing us that younger people can actually do things like this,” seventh-grader Melissa Zuniga said. “I didn’t know salmon used to run through the creek. And (the water) is not as clear as it used to be. It’s not good, so we’re cleaning it up.”

Donna Chang, First Creek science teacher and science club head, said the club’s goal is to get students engaged in learning through community service.

The club was funded by a grant from Youth Services America, which was looking to support a club like Chang’s in a high-diversity area.

The club has an environmental and community service component with a focus on science. Chang said the club of about 20 middle-school students participates in one community service activity each week, such as picking up litter around the neighborhood.

“It’s important to learn that they too can serve even though they are young,” Chang said. “And service makes learning much more meaningful.”