The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Phone: 301-264-3147
Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Related links
* Alice Ferguson Foundation
* Earth Scouts
* National Park Service
* Rocky Gap State Park
Students create action plans
to leave earth better in future
Mount Savage sixth-graders' knowledge forms foundation for life
By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
CUMBERLAND, April 20 -- Katrina Fauss figured most, if not all, of the Mount Savage Middle School sixth grade students learned something new about how to care for the earth and leave less of a footprint.
Her one hope, though, was that they'd do something about it long after two and one-half days of outdoor school. Students spent Monday and Tuesday at Rocky Gap State Park under the direction of Fauss, of the Alice Ferguson Foundation, and on Wednesday visited the C&O Canal towpath.
The three-day program is a partnership, Fauss said, between the Allegany County Board of Education, the foundation, the state Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service.
Steele Guyton was listening. He was one of 68 students in the crowd and, when it came time to present his action plan Wednesday afternoon - well, Fauss was delighted. Guyton included returning to Rocky Gap State Park as a volunteer to continue his education and help out in any way he can.
"Very nice," Fauss said in obvious approval.
She assured Guyton that she would have his teachers stay in touch with Rocky Gap State Park Ranger Sarah Milbourne.
In the program, students learned about watersheds, water quality and water chemistry of Lake Habeeb. Fauss said she talked with the students about habitat and survival. During that element, students built forts and discussed the components wildlife need for survival. Those elements include sources for food and water, a water-proof, warm home and enough space in which to live.
In the end, though, Fauss hoped they students would put their action plans - well, into action.
"They're not just learning science," she said, "but hopefully thinking about how to put that into an action and really provide service learning and not just content knowledge."
Fauss said many students focused on "reduce, reuse, recycle" - "that sticks in their brains." Some students suggested setting aside more land for parks. Still, others focused on education and outreach.
The approaches can all be different, she said, but similar in that it's "something that they would do based on what they learned from this."