News & Notes April 2004

Pennsylvania Brings Home Three National Awards

Pennsylvania won three awards at the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Annual Meeting in February including a winning poster, Secondary Teacher of the Year and a Quota Recognition Award.

Ashley Gibbs of Delaware County won first place in the 10th -12th grade category in the NACD poster contest (see the February 2004 issue of News & Notes).

Syngenta Crop Protection and NACD honored Cindy DeMaria for her outstanding contributions in the field of conservation education. The Bucks County Conservation District nominated Cindy DeMaria for what they called her "passion" for sound environmental education. Congratulations Cindy for winning the National Secondary Teacher of the Year Award.

Cindy DeMaria, National Secondary Teacher of the Year Award recipient

Finally, PACD received a Quota Recognition Award. The award was given because members of the state association contributed $48,418 to NACD. This figure represented one of the ten highest contributions by a state. Thank you to all of Pennsylvania's dues paying members for supporting your national association.

Education Forum Results

In recent years, Conservation Districts have been asked to expand the scope of their educational programs, to meet many common needs statewide, while still meeting local needs. Due to this increased demand, the leaders of PACD were interested in developing a thorough and comprehensive plan to strategically use their resources.

To accomplish this review, PACD applied to the Canaan Valley Institute for grant money to fund the project. After successfully receiving a $4,000 grant, PACD sought an outside consulting firm to facilitate the planning and review process.

Key Project Goals

-Define conservation education from the Conservation District's viewpoint.
-Outline current educational products and services provided by the Conservation Districts.
-Identify the agencies and organizations that partner with PACD.
-Identify the financial and human resources as well as the barriers that are present at the Conservation Districts.
-Realize educational activities that the Conservation Districts can address in the future to create positive change.
-Identify the top strategic directions in education that PACD should help guide the Conservation Districts in the future.

To address these goals PACD planned and conducted a day-long strategic planning workshop, titled the "Education Forum" for all Conservation Districts. This workshop was facilitated by staff from the Canaan Valley Institute on October 31, 2003.

All of the data is published in a final report which can be viewed on PACD's website at http://www.pacd.org/about/committees/edforumresults.htm. What follows here are the strategic directions about which the workshop attendees reached consensus.

Top Five Strategic Directions for Conservation Education
#1: Broad impact marketing plan geared to specific target audiences
#2: Conduct interactive hands-on education activities
#3: Implement education opportunities to wide array of audiences
#4: Create attitude change and develop passion for stewardship of natural resources
#5: Provide dedicated environmental education staff for Conservation Districts

PACD will analyze all the data to assist them in making strategic decisions for the organization's future. Under the guidance of chair, Ron Rohall, the PACD Education and Youth Committee will work to implement some of the key recommendations.

Directors-Keep Informed Via Email

PACD has created an email based discussion group (listserve) designed specifically for directors. The directors who join this list are able to exchange information with their counterparts from other districts quickly and easily. Directors also receive news and updates from PACD through this mailing list.

The mailing list is a service that PACD receives from NACD and there is no additional cost for directors to participate in this group.

To join the directors mailing list send an email to shannon-eberly@pacd.org with your name, county and phone number in the body of the email.

Once you are subscribed, you can send a message to the group by emailing Directors@pacd.org. Copies of your email will automatically be sent to everyone on the list. Questions about this mailing list should be addressed to Shannon Eberly, PACD Communications Specialist at (717) 238-7223.

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