17th Annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days

More than 450 fifth-grade students, teachers, and chaperones from Beaufort County attended the Beaufort Soil and Water Conservation District’s 17th Annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days. The educational event was held November 3-5 at Goose Creek State Park. On each school’s assigned day, attendees were divided into groups to rotate through six stations. Stations included Aquatics, Soils, Wetlands, Forestry, Conservation, and Wildlife and were instructed by specialists from various agencies. A child, facing away from the camera, holds three green balls above their head during an educational activity

Presenters and volunteers were from Goose Creek State Park, NC Estuarium, Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, Beaufort Soil and Water Conservation District, Domtar, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, NRCS APHIS, and retired USDA NRCS.

Beaufort Soil and Water Conservation District appreciates the assistance of all those involved in the learning stations and thanks Goose Creek State Park for co-sponsoring the event.

Environmental Field Days was started 39 years ago by Dan Windley from the Beaufort Soil and Water Conservation District. Windley passed away in September 2006. To honor his family for their continued dedication to this annual event, the name was changed to Annual Dan Windley Environmental Field Days in 2008. Presenter Becky Savage teaches students about wildlife during Environmental Field Days. A plastic, multicolored, tabletop-sized model used to demonstrate various stormwater processes encountered in Beaufort County An NC Park Ranger, standing in front of a wooded area, facing a group of students and teaching them about wetlands. He is using hand movements for emphasis A group of children walking down a hiking trail in a wooded area A female instructor giving two thumbs up to a group of students while explaining an activity at Environmental Field Days A female instructor smiles while looking over at and acknowledging a student who is responding to a question during an Environmental Field Days activity A tabletop display educating students about various types of leaves that are found locally A male instructor, holding up a short, thin piece of wire with a pink ribbon attached on the end, instructs a group of students lined up in a single-file line