Lessons from the Crow Wing

Growing up along the Crow Wing River, Stephen Funk learned early on how deeply water could shape a family’s story. Now an agriculture teacher at Park Rapids High School, he said many of his best childhood memories were made on the river and in the outdoors.

Stephen’s family’s connection to water began generations ago when his great-grandparents moved from Illinois to Colorado, trying to find a place to homestead that had access to clean water. As they traveled through Minnesota, they discovered the Crow Wing River near Nimrod and “thought they had just found paradise. There was water everywhere.” That discovery shaped the generations that followed. His grandfather started one of the first canoe outfitters on the river. Stephen and his siblings spent their childhood fishing for walleye, harvesting wild rice, hunting ducks, and exploring the riverbanks.

“In our family, we say that the Crow Wing River kind of flows in our veins,” he said. He remembers learning about nature through firsthand experiences. “Every day when I got home from school, I was outside.”

Today, Stephen carries those experiences into his classroom, helping students understand the connections between water, wildlife, and the world around them. “Water is our basis of life,” he said. “Without good clean water, we don’t exist on this planet.” Through classes focused on natural resources and outdoor recreation, he teaches students how forests, rivers, and wildlife all affect ecosystems. He often reminds students that “everything is connected in nature,” using examples like how wolves in Yellowstone indirectly affected water quality by changing grazing patterns. He also organizes annual river cleanups with his students, who canoe sections of the river up by Itasca. “Each year that we do this, we are continuing to find less and less trash, which is pretty awesome,” he said. The improvement gives him hope for the future.

Learn more in the We Are Water MN exhibit

Stephen Funk shared his story as part of We Are Water MN, a traveling exhibit and community engagement program that explores Minnesotans’ relationships with water. Itasca State Park will host the exhibit starting on June 18.

Lake Itasca in central Minnesota is recognized as the source of the Mississippi River, known in Ojibwe as Misi-ziibi (“great river”). From its modest beginnings, the Mississippi flows about 2,350 miles, draining all or part of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, before emptying into the Gulf.

The river grows larger and mightier as it travels south, fed by major tributaries including the Minnesota, St. Croix, Wisconsin, Des Moines, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and Arkansas rivers.  

Visit the We Are Water at Itasca exhibit in the Lakeside Museum located at Itasca State Park to hear local stories and learn more about water in and around the area. The exhibit runs from June 18 to Aug. 10, 2026, and is open during park operating hours. 

About We Are Water Minnesota 

We Are Water MN is a project of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension.

We Are Water MN is paid for by the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.