The 20th Annual Environmental Fair is almost upon us! Local Soil and Water Conservation District staff will host 5th and 6th grade students from the 11 county area at the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Marshall on September 20 and 21 for a fun-filled day learning about the world around us through demonstrations and student participation. Topics include trees, soil, water, wetlands, native prairie, watersheds, stewardship, wildlife, and more.
The first Environmental Fair was held in September 1992. The one-day event was attended by 1,280 6th grade students from a 14-county area. Over the years, the Fair has grown into a two-day event moved around the area (reducing school travel time), participating SWCDs have changed, and both 5th and 6th graders are now invited to attend. Most schools return year after year at the request of their teachers.
Teachers must register in advance. Committee members from the SWCDs schedule classrooms into small (20 minute) and large (40 minute) group presentations on a range of environmental topics. Teachers and their students follow a predetermined, individualized schedule given to them when they arrive at the event. Learner outcomes are also provided for each session. Presenters are state & federal agency personnel from local, area, and state levels including SWCDs, NRCS, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MN Extension Service, US Fish & Wildlife, MN Board of Water & Soil Resources, county environmental staff, and more, along with professional educators from lyceum programs of MN Science Museum, Minnesota Zoo, and others.
Twenty years is a long time for any kind of activity or program. With tightening school budgets and more outreach options available to rural areas, as well as our own SWCD budget problems (fewer discretionary funds for education/outreach activities) and no source of grant funds for ongoing projects, we polled teachers whether we should continue the Environmental Fair. Teacher response was a resounding “yes!” One 6th grade teacher said she was limited to one field trip and had to choose between the Environmental Fair and visiting the state capitol - she chose the Environmental Fair. Another teacher let us know that she had been to every Fair since the first, was retiring, and this was the activity she would miss the most!
Today's students are tomorrow's decision-makers. Positive experiences such as the Environmental Fair help students appreciate the value of our soil, water, and other resources, enabling them to be informed decision makers in the future. In the previous 19 years of this event, we have reached more than 32,300 children! Nearly 21,000 are now adults helping make decisions with their votes. Considering the population of this part of rural Minnesota, those numbers are very impressive!
Funding for the Fair is generally through donations from area organizations and businesses, but primarily from participating SWCDs. In 1993 and 1994 grants were received from the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources.
Check out the 1,834 students attending this year’s event! When you arrive, please stop at the Environmental Fair Office for updated information. See you at the Environmental Fair!
Lac qui Parle SWCD, Yellow Medicine SWCD, Lincoln SWCD, Lyon SWCD, Redwood SWCD,
Murray SWCD, Jackson SWCD, Pipestone SWCD, Cottonwood SWCD, Rock SWCD, Nobles SWCD
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