Ten high school students from the Virgin Islands joined 104 from Georgia last month at the 48th annual Natural Resources Conservation Workshop at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA.
The weeklong event was sponsored by the Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
St. Croix student participants included Algenia Maffei, Kiara Abramson, Shareena Cannonier, Olivia Ryan, Otisha King, JoAnn Thomas-Lewis and Rokeyah Connor from the Educational Complex, Seventh Day Adventist School, and Manor School, respectively. St. Thomas student participants included Jarvon Stout, Kyle Gonsalves, and Delani Daniel from Ivanna Eudora Kean and Charlotte Amalie High Schools, respectively.
“The opportunity for 10 V.I. high school students to engage in a NRCS conference with peers from throughout the state of Georgia is an invaluable experience for every participant," said Sharon Prudoff, CHS Librarian who chaperoned the female students. "Our students were treated as honored guests and participated in activities they have never before experienced. Many new friendships were made, students were exposed to the challenges and rigors of college life and time management skills – They loved dorm living! – and to a variety of career paths. Our V.I. student participants returned empowered and enthused about resource conservation, pursuing their college educations, and becoming involved in local RC&D community-sponsored programs.”
During the week, the students attended classes focusing on backyard and soil conservation, wildlife law enforcement and forest management. Outdoor classrooms ranged from prescribed burning to fish pond management. Every evening during the workshop, the students participated in events such as college night, career programs and a talent show. The workshop was capped off with a picnic at Paradise Lake that included a gun safety course, a demonstration by the Georgia Forestry Commission on wildfire control, prescribed burning, archery and fishing.
Commissioner Louis Petersen, Jr. V.I. Department of Agriculture, chaperoned the male students. The event was held from June 7 through 11.
Scholarships for Virgin Islands’ students and their chaperones were sponsored by the Virgin Islands Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. through an Urban & Community Forestry Assistance Program grant from the V.I. Department of Agriculture.
