Conservation On the Ground -

							Conservation on the Ground –
Conservation Education in Covington
County by Merry Buford, Soil Conservationist, Andalusia Field Office, AL

        All 26 third grade classes in Covington County recently had a chance to express
themselves while learning about conservation. Each third grade student in the county received
a Celebrate Conservation comic book. Through pictures, text, and definition of conservation
terms, the comic book helped them understand that our soil and water provide the basic needs
of daily life—the food for our bodies, the natural beauty that uplifts our spirits, and the
foundation for our homes. The students learned the benefits of recycling—reducing pollution
and conserving natural resources. After learning about the value of conservation, they had the
opportunity to interpret what they had learned and to express their views on conservation by
composing an artistic rendering in the form of a poster. Volunteers from the Master Gardeners
Association and the Frank Jackson Trail Masters, along with our supervisors and other faithful
volunteers, helped judge the posters. While all the posters were good, a winner was chosen
from each class to move on to a county-wide contest. The county winners in this category
were:
        1) Landon Hughes, South Highlands Elementary, Mr. Archie’s class
        2) Paige Cook, Red Level Elementary, Mrs. Harper’s class
        3) Maklyn Batchelor, Red Level Elementary, Mrs. Guilford’s class

These three individuals will
go on to the area
competition. These three
students, their parents, and
teachers were invited to the
annual youth event that
honors all contest winners for
this year. Every student is a
winner and should be proud
of their poster because they
learned about the value of
our natural resources.
Hopefully, these children will
one day be able to give us
innovative ideas about how      Because of the conservation lessons learned, each child was a winner!
to conserve and wisely use
our natural resources because we took the time today to tell them about the importance of
conservation.



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