A group of seventh-graders at John Yeates Middle School held oysters, crabs and other creatures from Suffolk’s waterways during their science classes on Thursday.

Rather than learning from a book about these creatures, they got to see and touch local river life in the flesh as they learned more about the ecosystem of our local rivers and creeks.

“They learn so much better when they can touch, feel, see and smell everything,” teacher Deborah Askew told reporter Alex Perry on Thursday.

That’s entirely the point of this endeavor, which is part of the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance’s programs.

If you’ve read the story on 2018 Suffolk First Citizen Karla Smith on this front page, you won’t be surprised that Smith was involved in this classroom project. Wherever our local rivers and education combine, Smith can often be found.

A retired educator of 40 years and a lover of nature and the rivers for longer than that, Smith has dedicated herself to education about the Nansemond River and its tributaries, the history of the waterways and the communities that depend on them, the wildlife in and around them and how the entire ecosystem works together.

Smith devotes herself to many different projects to educate children and adults alike. The NRPA program with Suffolk seventh-graders sometimes takes them out on boats and sometimes brings the wildlife to them, but it always helps them learn something new.

To educate the adults, she has been in projects like ensuring Suffolk’s inclusion in the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and raising funds for educational kiosks to be placed at strategic points. She also has researched and written four books, “The River Binds Us,” “Peninsula in Passage,” “Truckin’ on the Western Branch” and “Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses,” all of which have documented stories, photos and history that may have been lost were it not for her efforts.

Suffolk residents should be proud of this recognition of Smith. We congratulate her and thank her for her service to our rivers and our community.