This project is much like the river it was based on. Like the stream high up in the Kenai Range its beginnings are as uncertain as the snowmelt and glacier melt that form it. Its route at this point is indecipherable, direction dictated only by gravity and substrate. In the beginning, neither the students nor I had any concept of where this project could or would lead. Gathering more and more snowmelt, this new stream begins to pave a more definite path as it nears the foothills. Similarly, as we gathered more and more ideas from guest speakers, our families, and each other our project became more focused, the purpose more understood. Once this mass reaches the plains it has taken on the form of a river, the snowmelt still helping to shape it. The distance here is great, allowing the thoughts and ideas to grow and develop as the teacher, much like the bends in the river, gently guide it in the right direction. Our community of Soldotna is located near the mouth of this river, the Kenai. Its brilliant bluish/green waters begin to encounter more of an urban scene as it leaves the security of its wilderness setting. Here, too, the students begin to leave the security of their classroom sharing their prized work with the residents and policy makers of their community. Soon though, almost too quickly, the river finds itself emptied into the Cook Inlet. No longer identified as a river, the glacial /snowmelt now becomes a part of the larger entity contributing its piece to the larger whole. And now, no longer a part of Miss Pfitzner’s Class’ DOT Park Project, my students will move on to middle school bringing an experience that has great potential to guide and inform them as they contribute to our society.