1. Engaging Youth in Conservation Commission Activities
Creating Meaningful and Lasting Connections
Evy Nathan -Kingston Conservation Commission & Sarah Sallade -Sanborn Regional High School

2. Outline
What are the benefits of engaging youth in conservation commission work?
Seven keys to success...
Examples of youth engagement with the Kingston Conservation Commission

3. What are the benefits of engaging youth in conservation commission work?

4. The small wonders found during projects are a delight to youth no matter what their age!

5. Youth need community service hours for scouts, school, church and more.

6. They get to meet interesting people and explore careers, like county forester!

7. They learn about the ecology of their local area.

8. They are able to see the positive impacts they can have within their community.

9. They get a chance to work side by side with their teachers and community members

10. Seven keys to success...

11. Projects can be simple or complex, involve 1 person or a 100+, just be open minded and flexible
Girl Scout Gold Award & Boy Scout Eagle Award Projects
Troop/Pack Projects
Extended Learning Opportunities/Internships for High School Students
Connecting with individual teachers and classrooms
Working with a whole grade or school

12. Spring Kingston Girl Scout Troop places plant identification signs and bird houses at South Kingston Town Forest
Spring Kingston Girl Scout Troop plants habitat trees for Arbor Day
Pictures?
How do you get in touch with scout troops? Do they contact you? How do you work with them - which adults are involved? Who decides on the projects? What work do they do prior to coming out to a project site? Do they stay involved in ConCom after they complete the project?

13. Summer 2013 - Sanborn Regional High School Student Amanda Moulasion joins KCC
After her involvement in the Powwow Pond Water Quality Project as part of her sophomore curriculum Amanda chose to join KCC as a youth member
She then chose to do an Extended Learning Opportunity for school credit in the year that related to her Ecology interests and involvement in ConCom

14. Fall Eagle Scout Kyle Gelina cleans up trails and creates trail map for Old Frye Farm Town Forest

15. Spring 2013 - Improving the Water Quality of Powwow Pond One Yard at a Time
A collaboration between KCC, Powwow Pond Council, and Sanborn Regional High School
180 Sophomores from Sanborn Regional High School learn about water quality, discover the impact humans have on local water bodies, design and implement plans, and then produce educational flyers for the community about the problem and solutions

16. Engagement opportunities should create excitement and provide something to look forward to
Hosting annual events keeps youth excited and coming back for more
Arbor Day
Wild Kingston Photo Contest
has an “under 18” division
work is judged and awarded at Kingston Days

17. No matter what path you choose for engaging youth both the process and the final outcome have to benefit all involved parties in meaningful ways
Connecting youth to their environment and community
Community service hours for youth
Connections to lessons learned in the classroom
Raising youth awareness about environment and conservation issues
Recruiting environmental leaders
Creating a culture of stewardship in the community through a ripple effect
Increasing “boots on the ground” to accomplish conservation projects

18. Summer 2013 - Kingston Rec Summer Camp Marker Buoys for Powwow Pond Milfoil
The work on Powwow Pond fostered many collaborations including one with Trickin’ Falls YMCA camp which led to a follow up project the same summer.

19. Spring 2012 - Sanborn Students Plant Wildflower Garden at South Kingston Town Forest
This was the first major project where KCC engaged Sanborn Regional High School students. The project was modest and centered around a single day of service that was directed by the needs of KCC, but met a community service requirement by students.
How did this project come to be?

20. Before...

21. During...
Benefits for students: Community Service, Teamwork, Pride

22. and after!
Benefits for ConCom: Transformation of a local property, Increased student awareness

23. Spring 2013 - Improving the Water Quality of Powwow Pond One Yard at a Time
This project was a collaborative effort between the Pow Wow Pound Council, KCC and SRHS during the school year. The final day of service took place in June.

24. First Steps in the Pow Wow Pond Project
Pow Wow Pond Council & KCC determine that the water quality at Pow Wow Pond is declining and something should be done to protect the pond for homeowners and other town’s people alike
KCC contacts the High School principal about a potential service project to install rain gardens at homeowners properties around Pow Wow Pond
The SRHS principal puts KCC in touch with a potentially interested science teacher
Connecting with the High School at a more complex level with full integration into the curriculum.

25. Teacher Develops a Plan that will Engage Students in the Project
Biology teacher describes the opportunity to the other Biology teachers and discusses how the project might fit into the curriculum
Biology teachers approach other sophomore teachers with the idea
Teachers work together to develop a plan that will capture student interest

26. “Why is the South edge of Powwow Pond filling with vegetation, why do we care and what can we do about it?”
Biology teachers use an inquiry approach
KCC & Powwow Pond Council present to students at the school about the previous health status of the pond and its current state in order to emphasize the problem
Students “do the science”
Identify what they know about answering this question and what they need to learn
Read informational texts*
Hear from outside experts
Visit the pond to make preliminary measurements of water quality, soil features, and evidence of local human impact
In light of the problem teachers develop the unit question that students will answer as a result of their work
It is decided that students will not be told what the final project might be...they will determine this on their own with a little guidance based on their research

27. Meanwhile...Powwow Pond Council Recruits Homeowners to Participate in Projects that will Improve Water Quality
Homeowners were selected primarily based on their willingness to participate and not necessarily on the direct impact that their yard or property may be having on water quality - however, each property selected is a good candidate for some kind of mitigation strategy

28. At the same time...KCC Finds Volunteers and Supplies that will Guarantee Project Success
Plants were picked up from the state nursery
Fill and compost is delivered by the local road agent
Friends and colleagues from a variety of organizations help prepare plants and gather tools

29. Students Develop a Plan for 6 Properties Around the Pond
Using the chemistry data and site mapping info students worked as a class of 20 to develop specific site plans

30. Get the word out through the press & social media
KCC created a press release and posted news on its facebook page about the project
Administration becomes involved, school newsletter, local media
Teachers give related interviews
including one by the UNH EPSCoR program because of the Water Lab’s involvement in the project

31. Recruit enough relevant volunteers to make your project a success
Everyone involved works to find willing and relevant adult volunteers to assist students
Volunteers should:
feel comfortable working with youth
be willing to take direction from teachers/leaders and students/youth
be able to provide some direction to teachers/leaders and students/youth
if possible, have some experience with the topic
Volunteers can be from a variety of locations:
garden clubs, UNH cooperative extension, conservation commissions, recreation departments, college students in applicable majors, land or water protection groups, etc.

32. Students Work in Teams to Implement their Design Plans
Filtration Trench Along Parking Area
Vegetative Buffer

33. Students Work in Teams to Implement their Design Plans
Rain Gardens

34. Students Work in Teams to Implement their Design Plans
Water Diversion Bars with Gardens at the End

35. Students Finalize their Studies by Writing Flyers About the Pond
Flyer Options:
What is happening in the pond?
Why should you care?
What can you do to help?
Flyers are published at

36. Reflect and celebrate when the project is done
Allow youth time to step back and review their work - both the process they took to get there as well as the final product
Celebrate!
Youth, volunteers & conservation commission
What was the most interesting or exciting part of the project?
How will people benefit from all the hard work that was done?
What challenges did they encounter and how they were overcome?
Who helped along they way/who should be thanked for their support?

37. Mutual benefits Benefits to students:
Understand water quality issues and the results of human impact
Positive press in the community about their contributions
Increased sense of self/group worth
Non-traditional learners became leaders
Benefits to ConCom and the community:
Improvements to the ecological health of Powwow Pond
Increased local awareness of problems facing the pond, especially among homeowners living at the pond’s edge
Creating/supporting the next generation of pond stewards

38. The ultimate goal is to create initial opportunities that will lead to future positive interactions, efforts, and leadership opportunities as youth gain experience and maturity.
This project was a collaborative effort between UNH Cooperative Extenstion, KCC and SRHS during the school year. The final day of service took place in June.

39. Fall 2013 - Spring 2014 Rescuing Frye Forest from an Alien Invasion
This project was a collaborative effort between UNH Cooperative Extenstion, KCC and SRHS during the school year. The final day of service took place in June.

40. Powwow Pond Success Leads to Frye Forest Investigation
The collaborative success at Pow Wow Pond led teachers at SRHS to develop an idea for a local invasive species project to implement with help from KCC in the school year
Teachers developed the project as part of a professional development opportunity: Institute for Nature-Based Learning (Project Learning Tree, USDA Forest Service & Hubbard Brook Foundation)
ConCom identified a perspective location where invasives were problematic
Coordinates efforts between the high school project and a local Eagle Scout Award project

41. Initial Site Inspection of Frye Forest
At this point Amanda has decided to tackle the problem of invasive species for her Extended Learning Opportunity research project so that her work with tie in with the work of this year’s sophomore project

42. Invasive Species ID, Mapping & Quantification
After 6 months of research on the ecology of invasive species and their threat to forest biodiversity Amanda met with Fred Borman of UNH Cooperative Extension to discuss how to quantify the existence of invasives and record their distribution in Frye Forest.
On May 18th Amanda went to the field with Fred Borman and Emma Carcagno from UNH Cooperative Extension, Evy Nathan from ConCom and her school advisor, Sarah Sallade to set about mapping the areas of invasives. The result of this work would be shared with Biology students so they could participate in a service project to eradicate the invasives.

43. Biology Teachers Align Curriculum and Connect to English & Social Studies Courses
This was all in preparation to help Biology teachers prepare for the sophomore team project in June

44. “How are our forests changing, why do we care, and what can we do about it?”
And the whole process starts again: Inquiry question, research, connections, outside speakers, educational presentations to the community about invasive species.

45. Volunteers

46. Tackling the Problem

47. What will be next?

48. Questions?

49. Youth Engagement with KCC - A few examples
Ongoing - Arbor Day Event & Wild Kingston Photo Contest
Spring Kingston Girl Scout Troop places plant identification signs and bird houses at South Kingston Town Forest
Spring Sanborn students plant a sustainable wildflower garden at the trailhead of the South Kingston Town Forest
Spring Improving the Water Quality of Powwow Pond One Yard at a Time
Summer Sanborn Regional High School Student Amanda Moulasion joins Kingston Conservation Commission
Summer YMCA Camp Lincoln Makes Marker Buoys for Powwow Pond Milfoil
Fall Boy Scout Kyle Gelina cleans up trails and creates trail map for Old Frye Farm Town Forest as his Eagle Project
Spring Rescuing Frye Forest from an Alien Invasion
It was Kingston Recreation YMCA Camp (a day camp here in town) that made the marker buoys, not Tricklin’ Falls
Migh add to ongoing, Boy Scout Troop 91 and 93 community service projects