Once again, Poland High School
science teacher, Michelle Garcia, with the help of her students, will be
implementing three projects from our Watershed Management Action Plan.
She secured grant money from several sources to do this work. Phoebe
Hardesty from Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water District and Linda
Laskey met with her during the year to suggest resources for these
hands-on projects.
Her science class of Juniors and
Seniors chose these three:
-
Erosion control at
Hemlock Campground (behind the store and beside the recreation hall).
-
Assess streams for
water content (comparing data from streams near the boat ramp and
Carbone property).
-
Habitat study (beaver
dam area, across from the Island, near Resource Protection land (near
Doolittle’s and Tripp Lake Camp). Using GPS gear, they will also
attempt to do a Purple Loosestrife survey.
In April and May, the students will
work in small groups to plan, research and go on site, then teach the
remaining students about their projects. Michelle invites to the
classes people with expertise in each topic. Each group will be sharing
their results with us in the form of videos, booklets, newsletter
articles or displays for the Annual Meeting.
We’re indeed fortunate to have found
Ms. Garcia to help with our work. She’s both organized and dynamic and
is determined to improve the quality of water on Tripp Lake. We are
getting much for our money.
Ms. Garcia and Mrs. Laskey thank the
land owners who have allowed these students to work on their
properties. Unfortunately, there’s work to be done to educate other
neighbors in the watershed about the importance of this study; they
shouldn’t refuse students access to their land for research. Please
think about how this can be remedied.
