Middle school teacher, Bretta Chaplinski, and five of her students took a trip to the St. Croix River to work with the DNR to help find federally endangered species, the Winged Mapleleaf mussel.

“This is a federally endangered mussel found in the St. Croix River exclusively near Taylors Falls, WI and St. Croix Falls, MN,” middle school science teacher, Bretta Chaplinski said.

On July 22 1991, the mussel was added to the endangered species list.  The reasons for the decline in Winged Mapleleaf mussels is from lack of interaction with each other and pollution.

Chaplinski attended a talk given by Mike Davis (Malacologist for the Minnesota DNR) and thought what he was saying was very intriguing.

“I thought everyone needed to learn about this valuable resource found in the St. Croix River,” Chaplinski explained.

After much research and experiences, Chaplinski decided to create a display case that would be featured in the Stillwater Middle School of mussels from the St. Croix River.  She wrote a letter to the Partnership Plan and was granted $3,000 to create the display case.

In class, the students are learning about mussels and cleaning their shells and additionally the rivers ecosystem.

“I learned that they attract host fish by using their mantle flap.  They eat by using their incurrent siphon to suck in water and filter out food particles and then spit the rest of the water out with their excurrent siphon,” seventh grader Avery Adams said.

While searching for Winged Mapleleaf Mussels, Chaplinski was able to turn this into a teaching experience for students.

“Their questions, discussions and curiosity leads me to believe they are learning a lot,” Chaplinski said.

Chaplinski hopes by creating the display case, it will inform individuals in the community about the importance of mussels and how they affect our ecosystem.

“Hopefully the exhibit that we are working on will inform people in the St. Croix River Valley community that the zebra mussel is not the only mussel species in the river and people will learn how amazing and complex these animals are,” Chaplinski said.

They are positively contributing to the community by helping preserve a resource that is essential to our ecosystem.  By creating the exhibit they are providing information to the community about the mussels and the importance it plays in the St. Croix River.

“The mussels help our ecosystem so we are trying to keep their population going,” Adams said.

The trip taught students and Chaplinski a great amount about our ecosystem and the endangered Winged Mapleleaf Mussels.

“I’m always in awe of how exciting science and the outdoors is for kids,” Chaplinski said.

Principal Roderic VanScoy supported the idea of letting Chaplinski take the students on the trip.

“The four students who attended came back more knowledgeable about the environmental concerns that we have in Minnesota and an excitement about learning that cannot happen in the classroom,” VanScoy said.

The students got to be outside and do something great for the environment and feel good about it.

“It was amazing!  It felt awesome helping out and making a difference,” Adams said.u

This was an experience of a lifetime for Chaplinski and the five students who got to go with on the trip to help the DNR in search of Winged Mapleleaf Mussels.

“I would 100 percent do it again,” Avery Adams said.