Radio-Tv-Movie professor Karen Kocher created the Barton Creek Time Stream, a multimedia instructional web site devoted to telling the historical past of Barton Creek’s conservation efforts.
Kocher’s portfolio, one will discover many tasks devoted to Austin’s historical past, particularly Barton Creek. Kocher mentioned she thinks of Barton Creek as “a singular, wonderful useful resource” threatened by the town’s progress.
She described {a photograph} the place the lights from the town’s skyscrapers mirror off the spring’s floor. “On the identical time, (it’s) stunning and scary,” Kocher mentioned. “You possibly can really feel the presence of the expansion of Austin weighing on that pool. That {photograph} actually encapsulates that.”
Kocher mentioned her documentary work protecting Barton Creek began in 1997, curating the “first instructional set up” on the Beverly S. Sheffield Schooling Middle. Returning to the exhibit in 2010, she mentioned no modifications had been made to the exhibit’s content material whereas she labored on different tasks.
“I used to be actually shocked that they had been exhibiting the identical movie that had been exhibiting since 1997,” Kocher mentioned. “I used to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, this place has so many extra tales to inform.’ Mainly, the springs contact every little thing — the historical past, science and tradition of Austin.”
Kocher mentioned she didn’t need her workforce’s further analysis to go to waste after finishing the up to date exhibit on the training heart. She mentioned she put what she couldn’t match within the exhibit on a web site, which grew to become the Barton Creek Time Stream. The web site offers a number of methods to discover the historical past of Barton Creek, together with a timeline and a map.
“Multimedia permits you to assault a narrative from many various angles,” Kocher mentioned. “When you’re doing a documentary, you may have a major character, and also you need it to be story-driven. Multimedia is a method to make a extra inclusive sort of story as a result of you’ll be able to embody many individuals’s tales.”
Kocher mentioned environmental science academics in Austin Unbiased College District use the Barton Creek Time Stream and its included lesson plans, encouraging college students to dive deep into the web site’s timeline and related occasions. She mentioned college districts within the San Antonio space additionally use her curriculum.
“I hope (the scholars) understand the sustained effort that went into creating the belongings we have now in Austin,” Kocher mentioned. “It didn’t simply form of occur. It was a gaggle of those that made it occur.”
Kocher mentioned her analysis for the Barton Creek Time Stream will contribute to her subsequent challenge, which dives into the historical past of the Barton Creek Greenbelt.
Pat Gordon-Brodnax, the managing director of Save Our Springs Alliance, mentioned training is crucial to conserving Barton Creek. She mentioned SOS Alliance runs Barton Springs College, a year-long program culminating in Barton Springs College Day, which incorporates audio system and snorkeling excursions.
Gordon-Brodnax mentioned she hopes Barton Springs College and different instructional assets encourage the subsequent era to grow to be “environmental stewards and activists” in an article she wrote for Austin Girl Journal.