Schuch, Lorson gaining experience through SWCD summer internship

Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District got a boost of energy from a pair of young women interning for SWCD.

For a long time, Becca Schuch was known in the community as one of the leaders of the West Holmes FFA chapter and a 4-H stalwart.

However, since graduating, she has taken on a new role as one of the interns at Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Having just finished off her first year at Grace College this past spring, majoring in environmental studies and minoring in communications, the role of working with SWCD seems to be an ideal fit.

Sylvia Lorson is a 2021 graduate of Kent State University who is currently attending the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute for natural resource management.

Having served as an outdoor education instructor and as a naturalist and photographer at camps in Northeast Ohio, Lorson fits seamlessly into the SWCD’s busy summer agenda.

Together the two interns have become an integral part of a growing agenda of SWCD activities including heading up the recently completed Conservation Day Camp, which was designed by Holmes SWCD to provide an opportunity to dive into a leading role.

“The Conservation Day Camp was awesome,” Lorson said. “We had planned that all summer and got to create our own programming.”

Lorson dove into geology while Schuch served in a prairies and pollinator program.

“It was fun getting to come up with our own ideas, and it was fun to see it all come together,” Lorson said.

Lorson, who is the daughter of Wayne County SWCD Program Director John Lorson, said this opportunity was one she couldn’t pass on.

“I’ve worked at several summer camps and outdoor ed camps, and I really liked working in outdoor education and teaching kids about nature,” Lorson said. “My goal is to teach environmental education in the future, and this internship has helped broaden my horizons.”

Schuch, whose father served on the Holmes SWCD board for several years, was eager to dive into her second summer with the organization.

“After interning last year, I fell in love with being in Holmes County and working with the agricultural community and the people here at SWCD,” Schuch said. “I wanted to come back and do some new things and see if this is something I really wanted to pursue.”

Her experience thus far has done nothing to squelch the desire to continue her pursuit of a career in SWCD.

“I’ve gained so much knowledge in the program side, how SWCD works with NRCS and the different programs and engineering plans that they deal with,” Schuch said.

With both having a desire to work with children as part of their progress, the camp proved to be the perfect opportunity for each to invest their skills and talents into something positive for the community and for SWCD.

“That camp and working with kids really rejuvenated my soul,” Lorson said.

“Yeah, that camp was a terrific chance for us to get our feet wet, and we both enjoyed the challenges,” Schuch said.

The two interns have been a big part of the summer’s progress at HCSWCD, and their effort hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“The board’s position was that we had an opportunity to get some experience to these two, but more importantly, we had a chance to get some additional work done,” said Trevor Berger, SWCD program administrator. “Both of them came to us with applications focusing on education with a desire with the soil and water perspective. It allowed us to get more done, and the board was impressed with both resumes.”

Lorson said once she graduates, she would like to work in environmental education, teaching nature to kids and families, and she hopes that takes her to the upper West Coast of the country.

Schuch said she would like nothing more than to come back to this area once she graduates from college because she cherishes everything about this county.

“I knew Holmes County was special when I was younger, but I don’t think I realized just how special it was until I went to school in Indiana,” Schuch said. “I don’t know if I would end up in Holmes County, but hopefully, it will be here or somewhere close by.”