What would motivate high school students to donate valuable summer vacation time to do science research?--the opportunity to make a difference! The Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group (SCWIG) was formed to identify and promote needed conservation practices within a local watershed, and turned to the high school science department to help educate the public on water quality in the watershed and to establish a monitoring system that would be used to improve surface and groundwater quality. Since 2002, for the past three summers, in this ongoing project, students collect water quality data and report their findings to the three involved community organizations.