April showers are no match for South Sound GREEN! This month we’ve gotten back into the groove with our North Thurston Public Schools Nearshore trips and Envirothon.
We started our NTPS Nearshore high school trips at Meyers Point. Rain or shine, students got to choose between two career paths – Water Quality Technician and Restoration Ecologist. The WQ Techs got to rotate between the water quality monitoring and plankton stations while the Restoration Ecologists rotated between nature mapping and doing riparian survey work. It’s great to see these students try out new things and figure out what kind of work post school appeals to them! Soon, we will be starting our NTPS Nearshore and 8th grade OSD trips at Squaxin Park. Stay tuned!
April 23rd was our South Puget Sound Regional Envirothon competition! Teams from 13 different high schools and 5 counties congregated at the Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge to put their environmental knowledge to the test. The students participated in hands on environmental exams about aquatics, soils, forestry, and wildlife. On top of that, they had to prepare and present an oral presentation on this year’s current issue – Non-Point Source Pollution. At the end of the day, the competitors got to attend a career panel featuring local environmentalists and ask questions about their paths that lead them to this work. It was a great day filled with learning and friendly competition. A huge thank you to the students and advisors who participated, our volunteers, and the Refuge! If you or someone you know is interested in the competition and want to know more, reach out to Sam Nadell at snadell@thurstoncd.com.
