VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — If the plight of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales has shown us anything, it's that you're never too young to try to save them from extinction.
Third-graders at Chautauqua Elementary on Vashon Island are working on several projects to raise awareness about the orcas and the salmon they depend on for food.
"A lot of kids are told, 'when you grow up.' There is a lot of 'when you grow up.' There is no reason to wait until you grow up," explained third-grade teacher Marjorie Butcher.
For one of their projects, students placed medallions next to storm drains warning people not to dump contaminants because it leads right to Puget Sound.
They also drew posters of salmon and orcas with QR codes on them that people can scan. The QR code takes people to an audio file of the kids talking about the struggling species and recovery efforts.
The Vashon Public Library hung up 20 of the posters. Cafe Luna, Ruby Brink, The Hardware Store, The Creamery, Snapdragon, Island Queen, Camp Colvos, Giraffe, Kronos, The Vashon Bookstore, Gather, The Vashon Tea Shop, Herban Bloom, and the Blue Heron also participated.
The students are visiting parks and helping restore landscaping that traps stormwater, while also learning about culverts and other blockages to salmon migration.
The kids even wrote an article in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber.
"A bunch of years ago, one of my classes came up with the tagline, 'a small voice can change the world.’ That is the theme of Action Network. They have changed the world so much this year for orcas and salmon, even though they happen to be younger and shorter, it doesn't matter. They've made a big difference," Butcher said.