COEUR d’ALENE — There was much to learn in McEuen Park.

For fifth grader River Diaz, it was hard to choose whether she found the watershed science, animal tracks, traditional tribal canoes, nature trekking or native fisheries station the most compelling during her day at the Coeur d’Alene Water Festival.

“They were all really interesting,” she said.

Thursday marked the educational festival’s post-pandemic return, hosting around 250 fifth graders from Atlas, Winton, Lakeside and Fernan elementary schools.

“We want to get these kids to see it, feel it,” said Amy Anderson with the Panhandle chapter of Trout Unlimited. “It’s not until these kids get out in nature that the light bulbs go off.”

The fifth graders were also treated to a birds of prey demonstration featuring a red-tailed hawk, a peregrine falcon and a barn owl — all of which received plenty of oohs, ahhs and questions from the young audience.

Each station was made possible by volunteers from the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, the University of Idaho, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and other state agencies.

About 50 high school volunteers were also on hand.

For Lake City High School student volunteer Haylee Lewis, the festival was about passing an appreciation for the natural world onto the youngest members of the community.

“Today teaches kids what means a lot to us, and why it should mean a lot to them,” Lewis said.