River Readings for youth environmental education // Intercultural Microgrant Guest Blog
The following guest blog is from 2024 Intercultural Microgrant recipients Shaelyn Bishop & Richie Kessler (Forever Green), who received funding through our partnership with Kentucky Waterways Alliance. Learn more about this project at kyrux.org/microgrants/2024, and connect with the team at greenriveroflife.org.
River Readings is a collaborative project between colleagues Richie Kessler and Shaelyn Bishop (Campbellsville University Natural Sciences) that aims to share the importance of environmental stewardship with local classrooms and libraries.
This project was funded by a microgrant through the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange and Kentucky Waterways Alliance.
We purchased many copies of educational books on river ecosystems to share with students in the classroom. Our first reading was to Mrs. Ellzey’s 1st grade class at Taylor County Elementary. Both Richie and Shaelyn read to the class, and taught the students different ways to “Keep the Green Clean!”
River Readings at Mrs. Ellzey’s 1st grade class at Taylor County Elementary.
At Mrs. Dicken’s 1st grade class at Campbellsville Elementary, Richie read to the class and students enjoyed getting to hold mussel shells from the Green River. Mrs. Dicken reflected afterward that, “My students thoroughly enjoyed the visit with Dr. Kessler and Ms. Bishop. They did an amazing job sharing the book and their love for the Green River and its health. They shared mussels with the class and gave them hands-on experience. The students continued making connections long after the visit. We hope to have them again soon!”
Above: River Readings in Mrs. Dicken’s 1st grade class at Campbellsville Elementary.
River Readings was invited to a Family Nature Night program at Clay Hill Memorial Forest, where participants also got to view some of Richie’s finest mussel shells, shell buttons, and many other specimens from the Clay Hill collection. After the programming, books were donated to the Little Free Library on site.
Above: Photos from Family Nature Night.
Copies of the books were donated to school libraries and Little Free Libraries in the area. Each copy was donated with a surprise Forever Green sticker inside! Campbellsville Elementary received copies for their school library, along with Taylor County Elementary, and Green County Primary and Intermediate Schools.
Books were placed in the Hart County Bookmobile, Green County Public Library, Adair County Public Library, and Taylor County Public Library. They were also placed in Little Free Libraries in Taylor County (Trace-Pitman Greenway trailhead) and Green County (Central Farmer’s Supply). Afterwards, the Hart County library reached out to say, “We greatly appreciate the donation of river books for the 1st and 4th grade students. We know our families will love reading them!”
Donating River Readings to the Little Free Library.
The microgrant is also supporting the development of several coloring pages highlighting native river fauna. Shaelyn is drawing the coloring pages, using storylines crafted by Richie. We are excited to share these characters that we hope kids and adults alike are going to enjoy coloring and learning more about!
Richie reflected on the project, saying that “this was an opportunity to continue building a sense of community support, responsibility and education regarding the significance of the Green River to us and the world.”
And now, the work continues beyond the grant! In January 2025, Shaelyn was appointed as a new Board member after collaborating with Forever Green on the River Readings project. She is grateful for this opportunity to continue working with Forever Green in the mission of protecting the Green River and its biodiversity.
If you would like to support Forever Green, please visit https://www.greenriveroflife.org/support-green-river/
—Shaelyn Bishop & Richie Kessler
Forever Green
The Kentucky Intercultural Microgrant Program is a seed grant to support two or more individuals or organizations collaborating across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places.
Launched with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Fund for the Arts, the Monument Workshop at UK, the Josh May Memorial Fund, and individual donors, the 2024 Microgrant Program invests in a series of seed grants (awards from $250-2000) to support short-term projects that foster dialogue, connection, or collaboration among Kentuckians from disparate backgrounds, identities, or experiences. Projects that involve diverse partners and invite the public to participate are preferred.