Students study Prairie du Chien area while sailing down the river

By Ted Pennekamp

A group of students from Augsburg University in Minneapolis have been in Prairie du Chien for the past several days as part of a fun and challenging learning adventure. Three guides, a professor, and eight students embarked from Minneapolis on Sept. 3 and are heading down the Mighty Mississippi in two catamarans on their way to the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s experiential learning, an immersive experience,” said student Steven (Scooter) Diehl, who noted that the group is doing coursework such as history and culture, environmental history and projects and river politics. Diehl said each student will also be doing an independent research project.

Part of the history and culture course involves studying indigenous cultures which populated various areas along the river before colonization, how those areas changed over time and what those areas are like today, said student Megan Parkinson. 

“I love it,” said Parkinson about her river adventure and coursework. “I wish all of my semesters would be like this.”

Diehl said the group is hoping to reach the Gulf by December, and along the way, gaining the learning experience of a lifetime. He said the group built the catamarans and sail most of the time. On those occasions when the wind is not favorable or nonexistent, Diehl said the six people in each catamaran paddle down the river on their way to their next point of interest.

While in Prairie du Chien for the past six days, the group stayed in six tents near the beach across from the Villa Louis grounds on St. Feriole Island. The Prairie du Chien area, of course, is well known for its numerous historical, cultural and environmental points of interest.