SWCD's fifth-grade camp provides learning in nature

Every year Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District presents its Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour to Holmes County fifth-graders as a way to bring conservation practices and the outdoors to light.

Not satisfied with that, the organization opened the door to further learning experiences for youth, extending the ages to all elementary students, and on Wednesday, July 9, the SWCD and many partners invited kids to Ancestor Acres near Nashville to participate in the second annual Kids Conservation Day Camp.

“There was a lot of excitement about possibly doing a summer camp, and we took it to the board and got it started last year,” said Trevor Berger, Holmes SWCD program administrator. “We added a few tweaks this year and created some fun new opportunities for the kids.”

The camp created opportunities for 55 youth to experience forestry, soil, prairie, pond wildlife, animal and insect wildlife, and many other aspects of nature at its finest. The day included a presentation from Ohio School of Falconry that talked about raptors.

“The hope is to offer a well-rounded experience for the kids,” Berger said. “We heard a lot of talk about this event in schools this year, and the excitement was growing.”

Berger said compared to the 5th Grade Farm Tour, this event offers more time to explore and educate.

“We can slow it down a bit, really get hands-on, take our time and even learn things between the walks from station to station, because these aren’t close,” Berger said.

What made the experience more satisfying is it wasn’t just the team from Holmes SWCD providing insight and education, but also organizations throughout Holmes and surrounding counties.

Joining the effort were members from Wayne County SWCD, Knox County SWCD, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and OSU Extension Holmes County.

Berger said that is a lot of knowledge available to pass along to the youngsters.

“The more kids we can get interested in the agricultural work that is taking place, the better,” Berger said. “Get them out here into nature, get them thinking about nature, and the more they hear about it, the more it may pique their interest.”

Rome Marinelli, watershed coordinator for Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, was one of the many volunteers on hand to drive the educational portion of the event.

He said these types of events are exactly what his organization strives to participate in because it is furthering education among young people who one day will step into these types of roles.

“It’s almost hard to quantify the importance of these events,” Marinelli said. “Having young minds like this understand the importance of conservation and things like clean water, soil function and ecosystem services is so important. If we don’t understand how the world works around us and what it needs to thrive, we can’t really be there for it.”

He talked about the importance of each station and the roles each play in sustaining the ecosystem and how they connect together.

Kids were able to explore the pond, capturing tadpoles, small fish and other aquatic wildlife. They used nets to capture insects and discussed the value each has in the ecosystem and the lifestyles they live.

They used bores to drill into trees to collect samples and talked about the valuable role trees play in the world today.

Each station brought plenty of questions that produced thought-provoking responses from the educators.

Marinelli said exploring the woodlands, streams, ponds and prairies can provide an escape and plenty of adventure for kids who are willing to set aside their electronics and engage in the great outdoors.

“The smallest of things can make the biggest of impressions,” he said. “You never know what is going to make an impression on kids.”

He said at each station kids were reminded these types of activities are actual jobs in the adult world where people get paid to do the same types of activities the kids were experiencing.

The day proved to be fun and educational as the youth were inspired to get outdoors and experience life in a new way.