Earth Team Volunteers

Updated 09/22/2008

Mary Ann Sharp, District Conservationist in the Danville Field Office and Boyle County High School teacher, Jamie Hester coordinate a water watch group with Earth Team Volunteers.  The water watch group has been in existence since the fall of 2003.

This group consists of students from the Boyle County High School and fourth graders from the Woodlawn Elementary School.  The high school students are matched with three or four fourth graders.  Every year the group conducts monthly water sampling along Clark’s Run Creek.

Clark’s Run is a major tributary of Herrington Lake which is the drinking water source for Danville residents as well as a major recreational lake for the central Kentucky region.

Led by teachers Jamie Hester, Kristina Grubb, and Tonya Lynch, the elementary students rotate between work stations hosted by high school students so that each 4th grader can assess three water quality components with the help and guidance of their partnering high school student.

The high school students participate as part of their environmental course curriculum and the fourth graders are introduced to their working environment.

The students' learning experience includes the use of Kentucky Division of Water's assessment worksheets as well as activities that include a biological assessment which the students refer to as a "good and bad bug count" and a simple chemical testing of the water.  

The group sends monthly sampling results to interested local agencies such as the Boyle County Conservation District, NRCS, and the Division of Water (DOW).  Their data is used by DOW and others in a local effort to develop a watershed plan for the Hanging Fork and Clark's Run watershed.

The students, both high school and elementary, formally present their findings to these agencies at least once a year.  Their yearly compilations and presentations reinforce the water quality concepts learned as well as educate the public about the quality of water in Clark’s Run.

This experience leaves the students with a lasting impression of water quality issues.  The actual "hands-on" of collecting and evaluating the water, allows the students to be more environmentally conscious and aware of their environment and of non-point source pollution issues.  This group is a valuable asset to the community by providing data that paints a picture of the local water quality and by making the community aware of that information.

This community awareness gained by the efforts of this group is leading to changes in personal behavior that will improve the overall quality of water in Clark’s Run and eventually Herrington Lake.

Ms. Sharp gives all the credit to the local teachers for keeping this group organized and making it such a success however, without the “behind the scenes” efforts of Ms. Sharp, this group may not have been created or maintained.  Choosing sampling sites safe for the younger children and the proximity to the school, arrangements with local property owners willing to allow students access to the sites, and above all funding.  The funding aspect was eventually made easier when Ms. Sharp explained to the local Conservation District Board the enthusiastic efforts of the students and the valuable information that was being obtained by the group.

The local Board not only provided money for them for one year but included the Water Watch group as a line item in their budget each year for as long as the group stays active.

Ms. Sharp’s use of this group as Earth Team Volunteers not only is a major plus for NRCS in terms of the data obtained of local water quality, she has also created a way to educate our future community leaders about natural resource conservation and preservation in a fun and exciting way.  NRCS salutes the three dedicated teachers involved, Jamie Hester, high school teacher and mastermind behind this group; Tonya Lynch and Kristina Grubb, 4th grade teachers at Woodlawn Elementary and of course the dedicated students coordinated by the local district conservationist, Mary Ann Sharp.  As the group edges toward its next year, there will be students who first participated as grade school students will now have the chance to teach the next generation of four graders.

To join the Earth Team go to Who can Volunteer or contact your local NRCS office

< Back to Kentucky's Purpose and Passion...