Over 600 fifth-grade students, teachers and chaperones from Beaufort County received some hands-on learning about the environment last week at the Beaufort County Soil and Water Conservation District’s eighth annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days event.

The event was held at Goose Creek State Park and included participants from fifth-grade students from Northeast Elementary, Terra Ceia Christian School, John Small Elementary, Chocowinity Middle School, Bath Elementary School, Pungo Christian Academy, S.W. Snowden Elementary and Washington Montessori Public Charter School.

The event was structured to where attendees were divided into groups and rotated to six various stations every 15 minutes. Among the stations were Wildlife Sensory Safari, Mobile Fisheries Aquarium, soils, wetlands, forestry and conservation. Groups were instructed by representatives from various agencies who specialize in the topics covered.

Rodney Woolard, district conservationists with the USDA, conducted the soils station, at which participants learned about different types of soils, their composition, how they’re formed and the differences in textures, layers and colors, he said.

“I think the District is seeking to give science-based environmental information and let (the students) know about the environment,” Woolard said. “It’s held to give students some basics about the environment. I think (the event) has grown and gotten better since the late 1980s. We always try to make it more helpful to kids and helpful to the environment. (The students) are citizens, and they’re going to be making decisions in the future. So we’re giving them some basic understanding that they can grow on and use in the future.”

Among the agencies that sent representatives to present information at each station were Goose Creek State Park, N.C. Division of Forest Resources, Weyerhauser’s Cool Springs Environmental Education Center, Natural Resources Conservation Service, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the BCSWCD.

“The event takes the coordination and cooperation of all the agencies involved,” said Debbie Boyd, education coordinator at BCSWCD. “Along with coordinating the schedule for schools and staffing, I teach at the conservation station. The Enviroscape Interactive Model is a great way to help students understand the importance of keeping the environment and watersheds clean. I hope they learned we all must do our part now to make sure we have those resources for our future.”

The Sensory Safari trailer for the wildlife station, as well as the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center, were available through personnel from the Wildlife Resources Commission, Boyd said.

Dan Windley at the BCSWCD started the field day event 29 years ago, according to Boyd. And though the event was originally established for fourth-graders in the area to learn more about natural resources and conservation, the event has undergone two major changes since 2008. Firstly, the event was changed to host fifth-graders rather than fourth-graders, aligning more with the fifth-grade science and social studies curriculums. At the event, students are exposed to information that aids in reinforcing classroom instruction and the End-of-Grade science test. Secondly, a decision was made to honor Windley, who passed away in 2006, and his family for their many years of dedication to the event by changing the name to the Annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days.

Preparations are already beginning for BCSWCD’s Ninth Annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days event, scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 4, 2016.

The Beaufort County Soil and Water Conservation District is located at 155 C Airport Road, Washington. For more information, visit http://www.co.beaufort.nc.us/departments/soil-conservation or contact BCSWCD at 252-946-4989.