Day One: Flint RiverQuarium On the first day, the campers will receive an overview of what will be expected throughout the week. They will then travel to Flint RiverQuarium, where they will learn the history of the Flint River and various steps the RiverQuarium is taking to help maintain the ecosystem around the river. In addition to a packed lunch, campers will need to bring a change of clothes/shoes that can get wet as there may be opportunities to explore the river basin. The students will return to the Thomas University campus between 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. on this day.
Day Two: Tall Timbers During the second day of camp, the campers will travel to Tall Timbers to work with Mr. Brian Wiebler and his team. While on the property, the students will be introduced to the process of telemetry, learn how to restore and maintain the long leaf wiregrass ecosystem, and participate in a fire frequency class. Campers will spend the entire day on the property, so please make sure that your child has a lunch, water bottle, bug spray, and comfortable shoes.
Day Three: Providence Canyon Campers will travel to Providence Canyon, located in Lumpkin, GA with the accompaniment of Mr. Rich McWilliams. Prior to retirement, Mr. McWilliams worked with the Science and Education Divisions at Thomas University. He has led several tours of students to the Canyon and can provide insight on its rich history and how the canyon came to be. Campers will need to bring a packed lunch and closed toed shoes. Due to the travel, campers will return to the Thomas University campus between 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. on this day.
Day Four: The Power of Mapping On this day, campers will travel to Arcadia Plantation to visit with a familiar face, Mr. Paul Massey. This year, with the guidance of Dr. Christine Ambrose, Mr. Massey will show campers two different sites on the property. Campers will look for wildlife related to long leaf pines, red cockaded woodpeckers, sapling growths, and sweet gum, just to name a few. While they are exploring the two sites, Dr. Christine Ambrose is going to show campers how to use global positioning systems to collect data, which they will later use to create a map of the wildlife located on both sites.
Day Five: Culmination Day On the last day of camp, students will spend the morning finalizing their "Thank You" letters and maps they created while at Arcadia Plantation. Then, in the afternoon, parents, friends, community members, and sponsors are invited to attend a reception, highlighting the events of the week and where students will share their own GPS Poster Map. The reception will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Flowers Auditorium building on the Thomas University campus.
From Bottle Caps to Benches
During the 2018 Natural Resource Stewardship camp, the campers were introduced to a project where they identified one way they could exemplify good stewardship within their own school systems: "From Bottle Caps to Benches." Throughout the school year, the campers would like for students, teachers, parents, and other community members to collect plastic bottle caps. These caps will be deposited at a few locations throughout the schools and the greater Thomasville area. The goal is for each system to collect at least 400 lbs. of bottle caps and $200 to make one "Buddy Bench," which can be placed on the school's playground or around the city. When someone sits on a Buddy Bench, it is a non-vocal way to signal that this person would like to have a friend join them on the bench.
Campers were asked to create videos reflecting what they learned this week. Additionally, they were asked to prepare a commercial encouraging YOU to get involved with this project. Take a look at what they came up with!