Congrats on the job. As a zoology major myself you have my dream job lol. I am in touch with people at my local museum and I can tell you that most people when setting up an educational tank will shoot for a local tank so I think you are on the right track with that. Pan fish, bass, catfish, etc. as well as plants will make this an awesome tank I think. For the educational purposes a few ideas I have would be descriptive boards around the tank and perhaps some information on how the filtration on the tank works. Also info about the local ecosystems around the rivers and lakes and maybe conservation info. Invasive tank is also a wonderful Idea for any future projects.
