By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

STONELICK TOWNSHIP - "Save our jobs; stew the fish" one group of enthusiastic teenagers shouted. Across a small pond, another group yelled back, "No more salt; save the fish."

While the event on the Clermont Northeastern High School campus might have seemed like an environmental protest, for these 75 chemistry students it was more a lesson about the complicated issues surrounding the environment.

The mock protest was just one of many unusual ways teachers of ninth- and 10th-grade classes at the central Clermont County school used a cross-curricular unit to show how math, science, social studies, English and even French classes are related to life after graduation.

"I learned more because it showed how things are connected and it shows you a lot about how things work in the world," said Sophomore Lindsey Hedberg, 16.

As part of the "High Schools That Work" model, the district has been working to incorporate cross-curricular programs. Last week, teachers worked together on an environmental unit involving Earth Day, and in the past units have centered on war, veterans, Christopher Columbus and the city of Washington.

"In education, our research shows that students learn better through planned events that coordinate across the curriculum, that it's more meaningful to them," said Susan Henry, the High Schools That Work site coordinator.

"I think the units have really added some excitement for the school year."

Not only did teachers address the environment from a scientific perspective, but also from a sociological and historical one as well.

In Sarah Shakelford's French classes, students researched how the French address environmental concerns.

"I thought it would be nice for the students to see a different perspective on the same issue," she said.

In Doug Geiger's social studies classes, students studied the environmental impact of World War I, and how a lack of crop production because of the war's devastation led in part to the Great Depression and World War II in Europe.

In Geiger's algebra classes, the environment was used as an opportunity to introduce the students to geometry, showing how plants and trees mirror shapes.

"These kids are always saying, 'Where are we going to use math? Why do I need this?' This was a way to show them that math is everywhere," he said.

The mock protest was just one part of the week for David Whittington's chemistry classes. Students did research in preparation for a debate on whether a company should be allowed to dump brine, or salt, into a nearby creek that would go into a lake.

They looked not only at the environmental issues involved, but also the economic concerns.

"We found enough facts to support what we felt," said sophomore Brandon Walker, 16, who was on the side of business. "It shows us a lot about how the world works and that you need to back up your claims with facts."

It was enthusiasm about what they found that led each side to the feisty protest, complete with signs, T-shirts and even a guitar-accompanied theme song for the environmentalists by sophomore Charlie Warner, 15.

"There's creativity, organization, research, data collection, leadership all wrapped up in this," Whittington said of the protest. "I think it's important to show them their First Amendment rights and to speak out when they feel strongly about something.

"After graduation, maybe one in 10 of these students will remember the chemistry they learned here, but what I want them to do when they leave is be able to think for themselves."