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From the front, Harbor City International School embodies the industrial urbanity of its surroundings. 
Residing at 332 W Michigan St., the building is surrounded by businesses, offices and the network of glass tunnels that makes up the skywalk. But from inside, we have a different view: one primarily facing the beautiful lake upon which we reside.

Lake Superior, our sprawling sister, has inspired many a poem, song or art piece. And here at Harbor City, it’s inspired many students to educate themselves on water conservation and the protection of our watershed. 

During the 2022-2023 school year, members of Action Club Team learned about our watersheds, their makeup, and the critical pieces of their survival, and went out and taught the students of Many Rivers Montessori about them. 

This year, we decided to look deeper into the history of our watershed and the role of stewarding it. 
Our residing environmental student group is known as Action Club Team (cleverly chosen for its befitting acronym, ACT). 

Focusing in the past on water-related issues such as beach and storm drain cleanup, freshwater organism bio monitoring and sampling, and comprehensive K-12 “water workshops,’’ ACT decided this year to welcome local water leaders directly into our school for some participatory, hands-on education. 
Organized primarily by senior Amaia Mayberry and ACT Leader and Harbor City Science Teacher Mr. Brian Scott, all Harbor City students were invited to sign up for a half-day long “Rights of Nature Workshop.” featuring speakers Emily Levang and Ricky Defoe from the local ‘Wankaam: People for the Estuary’ movement.

The workshop began with a group conversation about the importance of water in our everyday lives, and our favorite memories surrounding water. Students were also led through a few other activities with the goal of thinking about how intrinsic water is to our lives. 

Throughout it all, we sat in a circle facing not only our speakers but also each other, allowing for an intimate, engaged discussion for all ages – all over the backdrop of the magnificent lake behind us, visible from the windows in our 2nd floor theater lobby. 

The day culminated in a powerful presentation by Ricky Defoe focusing on the recent ‘Rights of Nature’ movement, which aims to grant the St. Louis River Estuary legal protections. This would, in effect, allow private citizens to act as the legal stewards of our water, and to take legal action when it is threatened, just as the Marañón River of Peru was given rights and legal guardianship over it was returned to the Indigenous peoples of the region. 

While the fight to establish the rights of the Estuary is nowhere near over, students left feeling empowered to educate others about not only the cultural and symbolic significance of water, but the importance of protecting it. 
Harbor City students and staff are planning to help spread awareness of the Rights of Nature movement through education and a mural celebrating the Estuary and all the water around us come May, through a spring symposium class. 

Amaia Mayberry and Agnes Barthel, are seniors at Harbor City International School. They are students of Brian Scott, science teacher.