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In 2018, the Duval Soil & Water Conservation District launched its Conservation Teacher of the Year award. This award recognizes the work of any K-12 teacher in Duval County who has been involved in both education and action during the past year. The ideal candidate is a principled conservationist who educates students on natural resource conservation practices and initiates student action in their community or school in order to improve quality of life for Duval County residents. All Duval County teachers who have participated in one of the District’s programs during the last year will be considered for recognition as our Conservation Teacher of the Year. This year's deadline in August 30th. Application Past Winners: 2019 - Kendal Schmidt, Middle School Teacher at The Foundation Academy Highlights: Participation Joe B. Forshee, Jr. Speech and Poster Contest, Monarch Waystation efforts and other student activities that include aquaponic farming and composting 2018 - Dr. Scott P. Sowell, Environmental Science Teacher at Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School Highlights: Participation in Annual Fred B. Miller Envirothon and algae eutrophication experiments with his AP Environmental Science students. The District nominated Dr. Sowell for the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board's Individual Environmental Achievement award, which he also won. Congratulations to Team Dasher from Darnell Cookman Middle/High School on their 1st place overall win at Fred B. Miller, Jr. Regional Envirothon 2020 hosted by Duval Soil and Water Conservation District! Thank you to the to the Fred B. Miller, Jr. Family and to A. Green Design Co. for their generous sponsorship of this year's competition. We were pleased to host our "Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators" Speech & Poster Contest this week. Congratulations to our winners!  Speech Contest 1st - Aiyanna Jennings, Jean Ribault High School 2nd - Keylee Connell, Landmark Middle School 3rd - Sean Burkey, Landmark Middle School  Poster Contest
1st (Grades K-1) - Paisley Edelson, Homeschool 1st (Grades 2-3) - Diesel Sheppherd, Louis S. Sheffield Elementary School 1st (Grades 4-6) - Mallory Joiner, Christ The King Catholic School 1st (Grades 7-9) - Adrian Lewis Brown, KIPP Jacksonville (Impact) 1st (Grades 10-12) - Vivien M. Guillermo, Sandalwood High School The 2020 Fred B. Miller, Jr. Regional Envirothon will take place on March 5th at Tree Hill Nature Center. The Envirothon is a problem-solving, natural resource education program for high school students. This annual competition is a field-oriented program in which student teams learn to use critical thinking skills to answer written questions or conduct hands-on investigations about environmental issues. The Envirothon competition is open to students from the 9th to 12th grade. Five students compete as a team and answer questions about forestry, soils, aquatics, wildlife, and a current issue. The 2020 Envirothon current environmental issue is "Water Resources Management: Local Control and Local Solutions". The winners of the local competitions compete at the Florida Envirothon, and the state winner competes at the National Envirothon. Training workshops for advisors and students will be offered on January 18 and February 15 at Frank H. Peterson Academy. Workshops are free. Registration for the competition is $5 per person, including advisers. Pay Online at www.duvalsoilandwater.com or make checks payable to Duval Soil & Water Conservation District, 260 US Highway 301 North, Baldwin, FL 32234-1440. REGISTRATION FORM: CLICK HERE DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION is February 5, 2020. Contact Joyce Miller, Coordinator, mjmhavingfun@yahoo.com 410-688-2365 (talk or text) with questions. Learn more at https://envirothon.org/.  We are excited to again host the annual Speech and Poster Contest! This local contest allows students to compete in the state, and even national contest under the same topic. The winners of the Duval County Speech Contest receives a cash prize, plus one student will get an invite to compete regionally and statewide for grades 6-12th. The poster contest is an additional way to compete in the competition for grades K-12. The topic for both competitions is "Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators?" and speeches are to be no more than 5-7 minutes. Independent research on the topic works to further educate students in conservation and natural resources, while public speaking provides a host of additional benefits. Artistic skills are called on for the poster contest, and all ages are encouraged to participate. Cash prizes for top winners. We hope that you, a friend, a relative, or a student you know will consider entering in the 2020 annual Joe B. Forshee, Jr. Speech Contest and Poster Contest for Duval County. Entry Deadline: February 19, 2020. All details and forms to complete will be posted to this event in the coming weeks. More details are available at www.tinyurl.com/duvalsoilandwater.  Congratulations to Casey Jones on winning our 1st annual conservation photo contest! He will be receiving a cash prize of $50 and his photos of sea turtle hatchlings will be entered in the National Association of Conservation Districts photo contest next month.  The Duval Soil and Water Conservation District was proud to host our 3rd annual Start Farming Panel on November 5th at the Duval County Agricultural Extension Office. Each year the event features panelists of local farmers and agency representatives that educate the community on ways in which they can get involved in farming. This year the panel discussion included Angela Tenbroeck of Foodery Farms, Nathan Ballentine of Man in Overalls and Jane Cant UF/IFAS Small Farms. The event also featured a farmers market where attendees were able to purchase locally grown produce and plants. Thank you to the Clay County Soil and Water Conservation District as well as the St. Johns County Soil and Water Conservation District for patterning with us to make this great event happen! The Duval Soil & Water Conservation District is excited to participate in the 2019 National Association of Conservation Districts Photo Contest. Our local contest is open to all Duval County residents. Winners are eligible for a cash prize and will go on to the national contest in December. Contestants are allowed to enter as many as five photos each year that each fit into one of the following four categories: Conservation Practices, Close-up Conservation, Conservation in Action, Agriculture and Conservation Across America. The deadline is October 20th, 2019. To enter please fill out the two forms below. You can submit your photo submission in two ways. 1. Email it to duvalswcd@gmail.com with the required forms. 2. Print your photo and two forms and submit it to our office location at 260 US-301 Baldwin, FL 32234 . Photos must be in a JPEG or TIFF file format. If you are submitting a photo in which a subject or model’s face is recognizable, you must also complete and attach this subject and model release with your photos. Minor digital enhancements for cropping, red-eye removal, filters and corrective functions are permitted; however, an image judged to be significantly altered may be disqualified. Contestants are not permitted to place borders, frames or backgrounds around their images or to place watermarks, dates, signatures or copyright images onto photos. Previously published photos are not eligible for the contest. The winners of this year's competition will be announced at our Start Farming Panel event on November 5th at 5:30 pm at the UF / IFAS Extension Duval County Agriculture at 1010 McDuff Ave N, Jacksonville, Florida 32254 (Click here for event details). The winners We look forward to seeing all of your great submissions! Questions? Please feel free to email duvalswcd@gmail.com with any questions you may have about the competition!  |
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