LEWIS CO., N.Y. — This week sixth graders from across Lewis County were hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at their Dadville location. The Conservation Field Day marks a four-hour event where students from over four different school districts and the Lewis County Homeschoolers Association learned about environmental careers and unique environmental programs from people who specialize in this field.
With an attendance rate of over 220 students making the rounds of these interactive stations and fourteen volunteer presenters covering the stations. Students were able to get a good coverage of each mini educational presentation in 25 minutes from maple production, land surveying, the “Day of DEC Officer” to even trying their hand at casting a fishing pole. Our presenters were thrilled with the questions that students presented to them and commented on how much they enjoy the day! The weather was great, the teachers and students enjoyed the DEC area and being able to be on a school trip outside once again after a two-year hiatus.
A successful event like this is only possible with the generosity of their time and expertise by our presenters from DEC: Andrea Mercurio covering Forest Management, Chris Balk with Wetland Habitat, Jeff Eller on Deer Management, Rachel Hillegas doing Nature Walks, Rob Snyder covering Mapping and Surveying along with Officer Hutton doing an ECO Demo. Elwin Stillman covered Bees and Pollination and Dale Moser talked about the importance of the Maple Industry in Lewis County. Lewis County Soil and Water Mike Durant and Alexis Lyndaker joined in with a very visual demonstration on soil erosion, BOCES’s Kim Seelman and students provided firsthand education on tree planting plus a pheasant and wildlife management demonstration. Everyone got to try their hands at fishing, a favorite sport here in Lewis County provided by Brandon Blair and Chris Murdie. For more information on Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County or 4H Youth Development Programs in Lewis County, please call 315-376-5270, email: lewis@cornell.edu or see our website: ccelewis.org.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension Lewis County