Youth
Kids enjoy Summer Environmental Program funded by TRPA
TRPA's Youth Activities Program is teaming with Talbot Mentors to provide fun and educational environmental activities for mentors and their mentees this summer. From service projects, such as wetland cleanup, to exciting Bay cruises and canoe paddling at the Audubon Sanctuary, the young people are learning about the plants and animals that live in our area and their importance to the economy and ecology of the region.Highlights of the program included a trip to Environmental Concern, a non-profit organization that excels at wetland management and educational programs on native plants. The role of these plants in preservation of our water quality was emphasized by Environmental Concern educators and the kids enjoyed a hands-on activity that taught how plants such as cat tails can be used to make many products used in everyday life.
A trip to Phillips Wharf on Tilghman Island featured biologists Kelley and Jerry Cox, who provided a tour of the extensive collection of Bay animals housed at the wharf followed by an ecology cruise of the Choptank River and the Eastern Shore of the Bay. Binoculars were provided so the kids could get an up-close look at osprey nests and watch the many ospreys of the area diving for fish. They also got a close look at the fish nets set below Poplar Island and handled native specimens such as turtle shells, fossilized whale bones, shark teeth, and Chesapeake Bay oyster pearls. For some of the mentees, this was their first on-the-water experience and one they will remember for a long time.
The culminating event of the summer program will be a trip to Poplar Island to experience first hand how well planned ecological projects benefit both the economy and the environmental health of the Bay. This trip will be followed by a day on the water with Living Classrooms Foundation's ship, the Lady Maryland, where mentees will be joined by other Talbot County youth. The Living Classrooms trip will enable the participants to actually measure the water quality and experience the life of watermen who make their living from the natural resources of the Bay.
TRPA is pleased to extend its educational activities to the youth of Talbot County as the future of our rivers and streams will be in their hands.