Waterway activist Jon Soul brings Bayou to Bay program to Caddo Magnet HS, Shreveport

Bayou to Bay @ Caddo Magnet HS, Shreveport, a photo by trudeau on Flickr.

Jon Soul, Shreveport waterway activist, ushered some 200 Caddo Magnet HS students onto a sloping lawn to demonstrate the properties of a watershed. Earlier, his visual show helped students learn the difference between a storm drain and a sewer. He showed the teens images of the massive amounts of trash that clog Bayou Pierre a few miles south of Shreveport.

Scores of plastic water bottles strewn across the lawn reminded students of the typical ways in which citizens contribute to the degradation of the watershed.

Said student Ryan Vauclin, "I've learned a lot today about the impact of innocent garbage on the environment. I liked his point about the number of basketballs, softballs, soccer balls and kids' play balls in the bayous. Eventually those rubber and plastic balls arrive at the Gulf of Mexico. Our bayou trash becomes an international problem."

His visit was organized by social studies teacher Dionne Procell-Brown. She was aided by SciPort's Michelle McKee and Donna Vishnefski. Also involved: teachers Patti Lafargue and Robert Trudeau.