Education and Outreach
Kids in the Creek
Kids in the Creek is an annual event held for 6th graders of Lee County. Students go around to different stations to learn about different environmental issues. In the past stations have included Water Chemistry, Fish Identification, Save Our Streams Demonstrations, Litter Education, Coal, Enviroscape, Eco-Jeopardy, Tree Identification, Wildlife, Soils, among others.
Pasture Walks
Pasture Walks are generally held 4 times a year. They demonstrate different grazing and farming techniques of local farmers. In the past there have been presentations pertaining to fencing, minerals, and soil testing.
Fish Wagon
Each year the District hosts Fish Wagon periodically from spring thru fall enabling local landowners the opportunity to stock their ponds.
Tree Day
The District sponsors an annual Tree Day each spring to make tree seedlings readily available to local landowners. This service promotes restoration of marginal pastureland and environmental stewardship.
Powell River Float Trip
The District has helped sponsor the annual Powell River Float Trip for many years. The float highlights different parts of the Powell River each year, with a few educational stops and talks along the way. The talks draw attention to different topics, such as mussels in the Powell, conservation measures along the banks, etc.
Envirothon
Envirothon is a national natural resource-based competition for high school students sponsored by Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The environmental education program consists of the Envirothon competition in which winning teams from participating states compete for recognition and scholarships by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. The competition is centered on four universal testing categories (i.e., soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, and wildlife) and a current environmental issue.
Youth Conservation Camp
The District has sponsored high school students from Lee County to attend Youth Conservation Camp. The week long summer conservation camp for Virginia high school students is sponsored by The Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts on the campus of Virginia Tech. The program brings together about 70 interested students for a week of learning about Virginia's natural resources from conservation professionals and faculty from Virginia Tech. Most of the instruction is hands-on and outdoors.
Enviroscape
Enviroscape is a three-dimensional teaching tool which visually demonstrates the water movement within a watershed. It is an interactive, portable model of a watershed that illustrates both water pollution and its prevention. Teaching with the Enviroscape is a hands-on approach that effectively demonstrates how protecting water quality is a whole community's responsibility.
Project WET
Project WET is a tool to provide training workshops to teachers of Lee County on diverse water topics (i.e., watersheds, water quality, water conservation). Project WET is grounded in 4 core beliefs: water connects us all, water for all water users, managing water sustainability, and personal responsibility for water resources. Daniel Boone has held workshops for teachers for this project as well as Project WILD and Project Learning Tree, which are conservation and environmental education programs.
VASWCD Scholarship
The District supports local students by accepting applications for VASWCD Scholarships. Applications are ranked locally with the district winner judged against selected applications from districts across the state. Four $1,000 scholarships are given to statewide winners.
Poster Contest
Area students are given the opportunity to participate in the NACD/VASWCD Poster Contest each year. Students submit entries based upon a selected conservation theme. Entries are ranked locally with the district winners judged against other district winners across Virginia. State winners then compete at the national level.