New book features “Eel River Expressions” is a new book featuring poetry generated by students at Loleta Elementary School during a residency by California Poet in the School Dan Zev Levinson in the fall of 2018.
The poets — including fifth through eighth grader and members of the Wiyot and Bear River tribes — deepened their understanding of the science of watershed ecology while exploring their command of creative language. The poems share the students’ inner thoughts about themselves, their cultural identities and their relationship to the natural world.
Also participating in the project were Sal Steinberg, watershed educator and a regional leader in environmental education; Loleta teachers Heather Nyberg-Austrus and Tammy Rose; and Superintendent/Principal Autumn Chapman.
Students also studied the Eel River and the salmon migration through a grant with the Rose Foundation and journeyed to the Goudi’ni Native American Arts gallery to view the work of Lyn Risling, whose show is titled “Reconnecting: A Cultural Journey.”
“Eel River Expressions” was made possible by a series of grants from the Kiwanis Club in Fortuna. “Embrace the Arts” provided funding for an Artist in Residence, Abbie Perrott, to get involved and for a five-day poetry workshop with Levinson. On April 16, Steinberg recited the students’ poetry at the Fortuna Kiwanis Club monthly meeting and was able to get a second Kiwanis grant to publish “Eel River Expressions,” present each student poet with a book and share it with the community.
This past summer, Levinson produced the book of poetry and Jennifer Rand designed the front cover. Eric Stockwell was a key collaborator in the Rose Foundation grant, providing the cover photo of a chinook leaping in the Eel River.
Levinson and Steinberg first began working together at Scotia Elementary School. This is their second book of student poetry. The “Van Duzen Voice” was compiled in 2013 through a federal Kids in the Woods grant. Both books are available through Amazon. For information about these projects and more, go to www.fovd.org.
