The Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District offers educator resources and student programs to advance environmental literacy among its residents.

We offer:

• Numerous educator resources are available for loan. Available resources include Project Food, Land, and People, Project Water Education Today (WET), Project WILD, Soil! Get the Inside Scoop, and our Pelts, Skulls, and Prints Box.
• Hands-on activities for children and adults including our popular EnviroScape Watershed Model which demonstrates non-point and point source pollution in an engaging and interactive way for all ages.
• Academic contests and programs, such as Envirothon and Conservation Contests
• Creek Geeks Field Day (Typically held in March/April)
• Assistance in creating Outdoor Environmental Learning Centers

Brandy Oldham, Education Coordinator
brandy.oldham@chathamcountync.gov | (919) 545-8440

Conservation Contests

The Chatham County Soil & Water Conservation District sponsors a conservation poster, essay, and public speaking contest each year. These contests have been in existence for over 50 years.

The Contests have been an important tool for the District to encourage young people to think about conservation. It's also a way for us to become involved with our local schools and our youth, and to introduce them to their local Conservation District.

Past winners of Poster & Essay contest.

For complete contest details, visit our Conservation Contests page.

Residents can find more details regarding contests, including scoring rubric, registration forms, hints and tips, as well as NC DPI Goals & Objectives, by visiting the North Carolina Division of Soil & Water Conservation.

All entries in the same grade category are combined with no distinction between schools. A first, second and third place finalist is selected in each of the grade categories. Some schools choose to have a competition at school level first, sending their winners to the District. Winners from each grade category win a certificate and monetary prize! First place posters are then sent to the Area 3 competition, which represents these eleven counties: Chatham, Rockingham, Lee, Moore, Caswell, Randolph, Alamance, Montgomery, Guilford, Person and Orange.

The first place winners from the Area then compete at the State level. State winners are entered in a nation-wide contest and are judged at the National Association of Conservation Districts' Annual Convention.

Envirothon

For information on the local Envirothon competition, please visit our Envirothon webpage.

The North American Envirothon is a nation-wide annual competition in which winning state/provincial teams compete for recognition and scholarships by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. The teams, each consisting of five high school-aged students from participating US States and Canadian Provinces, exercise their training and problem-solving skills in a competition centered five universal testing categories: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and a current environmental issue.

Training for the North American Envirothon begins well in advance of the actual event. Each team arrives at the North American Envirothon as a result of extensive training and superior performance at local and/or regional and state/provincial Envirothon competitions.

The Envirothon program is an effective educational tool, capable of supplementing environmental education both inside and outside the classroom. Led by a volunteer advisor, teams usually meet from late autumn until spring. Teams work collaboratively to develop their knowledge of ecology and natural resource management and to practice their environmental problem-solving skills in preparation for Envirothon competitions.

Team training includes field trips to natural resource sites, museums, or other areas of interest; listening to presentations given by natural resource professionals; and careful study of natural resource materials. Through these learning activities, teams increase their knowledge of and ability to understand complex environmental and natural resource issues.

For more information, visit our Envirothon webpage. Residents can visit the North American Envirothon website to find out about the national competition.

Resource Conservation Workshop

Resource Conservation Workshop Informational Flyer

The Resource Conservation Workshop is a weeklong workshop and involves study and hands on participation in a wide range of conservation topics. Students are housed at North Carolina State University campus dormitories under the guidance of live-in counselors. In order to achieve success, students should come prepared to meet the primary objective of the workshop -- learning about natural resources and their management in today’s global environment. Awards and scholarships can be won and are presented to students under several awards programs. It is open to all rising sophomore, junior and senior high school students interested in natural resource management. Students may attend the RCW only once.

Every year, the Resource Conservation Workshop is held at the North Carolina State University campus in late June. The 2024 Resource Conservation Workshop will take place June 16-June21, 2024. Completed applications may be returned to Brandy Oldham by mail, 1192 US 64 W Business, Suite 200, Pittsboro, NC 27312 or by email with required signatures. District Supervisors and staff will review applications and choose at least one student to sponsor. Applications are due no later than April 22, 2024.

For an insider's look at the Resource Conservation Workshop, please see a promotional video prepared by the Durham Soil and Water Conservation District. A sample program is available online.

For more information, please email our Education Coordinator. 

Resource Conservation Workshop Application

Educational Field Days

The Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District has conducted Environmental Field Days for middle school students since the mid 1980’s. The field day was originally held on a retired farm. In 1994, the field day was moved to the current location at Jordan Lake Educational State Forest. Students rotate to 6 different stations such as Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, Water Quality, Beekeeping and Soil & Water Conservation.

State Forester shows students how to tell age of a tree.

 In order to stay in line with the Standard Course of Study, the Environmental Field Days are held for sixth grade students. We continue to work ensure that the Environmental Field Days enhances what the students are learning at school. We welcome suggestions and new ideas.

State and local government workers along with citizen volunteers conduct 15-20 minute classes at the field days. In the past instructors have included the following professionals:

North Carolina Forest Service
North Carolina Wildlife Commission
State Park Rangers
United States Army Corp of Engineers
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
North Carolina Department of Agriculture
North Carolina Zoo
Various Chatham County Government Departments
Private Industry
Local Residents

Creek Geeks Field Day

Creek Geeks Field Day is a free, family friendly annual event that provides an opportunity for the community to explore their local watershed.

Our next Creek Geeks Field Day will take place on March 16, 2024 on the Loves Creek Greenway at Bray Park (800 Alston Bridge Rd., Siler City, NC 27344) from 12pm to 3pm. Please see our calendar for further details. Rain date for this event is March 17, 2024 from 12pm to 3pm.

Previous Creek Geeks Field Days have been held at Boling Lane Park in Siler City, NC.

Examples of activities that have taken place at Creek Geeks:

• A tour of Boling Lane Park where the Town of Siler City installed Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as wetlands and riparian buffers.
• Opportunities to learn about native plantings used in the area.
• Attendees were invited to learn some of the techniques used in stream health assessment and water quality testing in the creek running along Boling Lane Park.
• Attendees were able to search for macro invertebrate critters living in the creek.
• An EnviroScape watershed demonstration where participants learned how pollution affects local waterways.

Outdoor Environmental Learning Centers

In partnership with the Foundation for Soil & Water Conservation, the Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District has helped create several outdoor environmental learning centers for county schools. Schools that have received funding for outdoor environmental learning centers include Siler City Elementary, Pittsboro Elementary, and Silk Hope School. These learning centers have created an environment where students and teachers have the opportunity to explore the natural world in an outdoor setting. 

Pittsboro Elementary worked with Town of Pittsboro Parks & Recreation and the Cooperative Extension Chatham County Center to clean up the trail between the school and Town Lake Park. The Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District obtained grants to add an Outdoor Environmental Learning Center and a pier at Town Lake Park in Pittsboro for students to have access to the lake to take water samples.

Trail clean-up was a group effort and included invasive plant removal.	An eager student tests out the cypress benches at the outdoor classroom. Grant provided by Foundation for Soil & Water Conservation Districts.
Pittsboro Town Lake Pier, Grant provided by Foundation for Soil & Water Conservation Districts.	The Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District helped obtain state grant funds to build an outdoor learning center at Siler City Elementary.