The Value of Stewardship
April 18, 2016
Students from Princeton Elementary School have been participating in an ongoing “Nature Club” throughout the school year. Every other Friday morning, children from different grade levels practice outdoor skills such as snowshoeing, tracking, hiking, and learning to use a map and compass. Last Friday, they experienced a valuable lesson in the importance of stewardship – the simple act of caring for a place and managing to improve the quality of life. Led by DLLT Education and Outreach Manager Colin Brown, students worked on one of the most basic forms of environmental stewardship: picking up trash.
Armed with plastic shopping bags and eager hands, they scoured the environs of Princeton Elementary School, looking for every piece of trash they could find. After searching the playground, parking lot, and roadside ditches, the students were both impressed and surprised with the amount of trash they were able to collect in such a short amount of time.
“This type of service learning project allows students to see the major environmental impact they can have on their community,” said Brown. “Something as easy as picking up garbage and litter around their school is the first step to creating life-long stewards of the Downeast Lakes region.”
Cleaning up the roadsides after a long winter is a spring rite of passage in Washington County. If you are interested in helping beautify the local landscape, come to Grand Lake Stream on Saturday, May 21st for Downeast Lakes Land Trust’s “2nd Annual Community and Forest Clean-up.” DLLT and the Grand Lake Stream ATV Club are pleased to be partnering on this event to help clean up roadsides in the Farm Cove Community Forest and around the village of Grand Lake Stream. For more information on upcoming community programs, please contact DLLT at (207) 796 – 2100, or email cbrown@downeastlakes.org.
