Why Watershed? There are scores of ideas and resources available. Are you interested? Start small. When I started Apples Get Wet at Musselman High in Inwood, WV, I had environmental experience at two different schools and had learned a few lessons. The first thing I did was to contact the EPCD because the strong partnership I had forged with the John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District. Both agencies have education specialists trained to work with teachers and contacts with public and private agencies to help you network.
I met with the education specialist at EPCD and explained that I wanted to start an environmental program from scratch. She gave my contact information to a bunch of local agencies. I met The Cacapon Institute. Together we forged a plan to start a club and do a project. Several other agencies got involved to help. The first year a dozen kids helped plant 16 trees in a low-lying field to collect water and mitigate excess storm water runoff. Over the next eight years the club grew to about 100 active members who improved a wetland, installed a rain garden and green roof, built two large raised beds, landscaped a new Rec Center, and planted over 400 trees on campus. The club took on two big planting day projects every year, spring and fall. The kids did any number of smaller projects for the school all year. (Cacapon Institute Projects. Look for Musselman High's projects.)
Ask your Co-op what they would like to accomplish. Line up some ideas and call the local Conservation District. What about Boy Scouts? Are they interested in a partnership? Are there any projects you would like to do at your church? Do the Co-op's interests and those of your church intercept? Kids love to plant trees. I can't offer any explanation except they derive enormous satisfaction from pointing to a tree they've planted themselves.
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