Jadyn Stack is an eighth grader at Little Cypress Junior High and one of the Argos starring in the JASON Alliance of Southeast Texas (JASET) environmental science video “Wonderful Wetlands.” An Argo is the one student from each participating district who appears in the filming of the JASON project. (Yes, Argo is from the word, Argonaut.) According to D’Ann Douglas, JASET Director, “Stack is the narrator of the video.”

 The JASET and Lamar University are holding the 2016 JASON Event in the Setzer Student Center weekdays fromJanuary 5 through 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for approximately 7,000 fourth through eighth grade science students from across Region V. The topic of the fifteenth annual JASON Event is Wetlands & Wetland Restoration. Participating school districts include: Beaumont ISD, Bridge City ISD, Catholic Diocese of Beaumont (including Orange & Pt. Arthur schools), Kountze ISD, Little Cypress Mauriceville CISD, Nederland ISD, Orangefield ISD, Port Arthur ISD, Vidor ISD, West Orange Cove CISD and Woodville ISD. Approximately 68% of students who are reached by the presentations are economically disadvantaged.

Students will watch a 50 minute video called “Wonderful Wetlands” which was produced by the Lamar University Depts. of Communication and Earth & Space Sciences and taped in wetlands across southeast Texas. Local wetlands experts and eighth grade student Argos star in the video. Following the video, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) scientists will give 20-minute live presentations about Louisiana’s wetlands which are threatened by sediment starvation, land subsidence, and sea level rise.

The daily event is wrapped up by seventh & eighth grade students participating in Interactive Breakout Sessions presented by engineers from BASF Total Petrochemical, Chevron Phillips, ExxonMobil, Flint Hills Resources, Motiva, TOTAL and Valero. Other breakout stations are hosted by experts from the Baptist Hospital School of Radiology, Lamar Institute of Technology (Computer Networking, Criminal Justice, Process Operating, Radiology & Ultrasound), the National Weather Service-Lake Charles, and Texas Parks & Wildlife Coastal Fisheries.

Breakout Sessions for fourth through sixth graders will be hosted by specialists from the Beaumont Children’s Museum, Big Thicket Association, Big Thicket National Preserve, National Weather Service-Lake Charles, Shangri La Nature Preserve, Jefferson County’s Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (4H & Marine/Sea Grant), and Texas General Land Office Oil Spill Prevention & Response. Two days of the fourth through sixth grade Interactive Breakout Sessions will be hosted by eighth grade students from Beaumont ISD, Bridge City Jr. High, Little Cypress Junior High, Nederland ISD, St. Mary’s Catholic School, and West Orange Cove CISD.