Education and Outreach

Text resize

Each year the District sponsors poster, essay and public speaking contests in cooperation with local schools. The contest is an important tool to encourage young people to think about conservation. The contest educates our youth on conserving natural resources. The poster contest is open to 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students and has a conservation theme that changes yearly.  Average participation is approximately 125 entries. The essay contest is open to 6th through 12th grade students and it also has a conservation theme that changes yearly. The public speaking contest is also opened to 6th through 12th  grade students.  The 2024 conservation theme is "The Living Soil."

Each school will have a first place winner in the poster and essay category. The winners from each school will be combined and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be selected for each category. The first place winner from each category will be sent to the Area III Competition. Our area consists of eleven counties. The first place winner from the Area competition will compete at the state level competition.

2023 CONTEST WINNERS

3rd Grade Poster




5th Grade Poster

   


6th  Grade Essay   



7th Grade Essay




8th Grade Essay




High School Essay 



ENVIROTHON

The District provides training materials to and sponsors teams from local middle and high schools to Regional or State Envirothon competitions yearly. Lee Soil and Water sponsored three teams to participate this year.  The Envirothon consists of five testing stations—forestry, aquatics, wildlife, soils and current environmental issues- where teams are tested on knowledge of subject. The State winner is eligible to compete in National Contest. The Envirothon is sponsored nationally by Canon. For more information on the local Envirothon competition, please visit our Envirothon website at www.ncarea3envirothon.org or call our office

RESOURCE CONSERVATION WORKSHOP (RCW)

Each year up to three high school students are sponsored by the Lee District to attend the Resource Conservation Workshop held on the N.C. State University Campus. This week long workshop exposes young people to various natural resource fields and includes field trips. Students are eligible to win various scholarships based on test scores at close of the workshop.

ENVIROSCAPE

"Enviroscape" is a 'hands on' interactive demonstration designed to show how storm water runoff carries pollutants through the watershed to a pond, lake, river, bay or ocean.  The best management practices used to prevent this type of pollution from occurring are also demonstrated.   The Enviroscape can be adapted to teach kindergartners as well as adults.