Soil and Water District Recognizes Educators, Conservationists
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Jordan Fouts-
PIERCETON – Principal Tom Ray isn’t afraid to roll his pants legs up and wade in the muck in the name of education. The head of Washington Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy was honored Tuesday as the 2014 Conservation Educator during the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District Annual Meeting. It was one of several awards given for soil and water conservation and education during the dinner in Pierceton. Through Ray’s efforts, every teacher at Washington was trained in Hoosier Riverwatch, Project WET and Aquatic WILD programs. Additionally, every student from kindergarten through sixth grade is in a body of water at least twice a year, armed with nets and water test kits, said Darci Zolman, district program administrator, in presenting the award. “Tom is a very hands-on principal and has been known to pull on a pair of waders and jump in the water with the students,” she said. “You should see his face light up when he finds a freshwater mussel.” More than 1,000 students rafted last year during the 20th year of the district education program, she also noted. They were among the 3,400 students in 136 classrooms who participated in district programs. Zolman added that Ray also ensures that the students’ experiences are shared with others, having them participate in the Northern Indiana Lakes Festival, and he will be a presenter at this year’s conference for the Environmental Education Association of Indiana. The Conservation Farmer of the Year was Don Buhrt, who has a history of conservation on his farms in Van Buren and Turkey Creek townships. He uses no-till planting methods on his corn and soybean crop rotation, along with advanced nutrient and pest management practices. To control gully erosion, he installed water and sediment control basins, grassed waterways and grade stabilization structures on his farms. He also has served three terms on the county committee for the Farm Services Agency and currently serves on the Wawasee School Agriculture Advisory Committee. The Distinguished Service Award went to Shawn Krull, who volunteered to coordinate the On Farm Network program in the county last year. The program helps farmers assess economics and stewardship, and reduce their environmental footprint using precision tools and technologies to conduct research on their own farms. The Environmental Enhancement Award winner was Chuck Brinkman, who serves on the board of directors of the Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation and chairs their Watershed Management Committee overseeing conservation practices in the Upper Tippecanoe Watershed. He also has served as chair of the technical committee for the Eagle Creek Watershed Alliance, which promoted water quality protection practices in the watershed above the reservoir that provides drinking water for Indianapolis; and is a longtime volunteer for the Hoosier Riverwatch monitoring program and the Volunteer Lake Monitoring program, where he monitors nutrient levels and water clarity in Irish Lake for the state program. The Forestry Award went to Linda Hathaway, who manages 85 acres of woodland on her farm along the Eel River in Jackson Township. Seventy of those acres are in Indiana’s Classified Forest program, while in the last few years a selective harvest was conducted and Timber Stand Improvement was completed on all of the woodland. The River Friendly Farmer Award went to Brent Paxton, who farms in Seward Township and Fulton County on very sloping land where he uses no-till planting, cover crops, grassed waterways and filter strips to control erosion and sedimentation; and Brian Romine, who farms in Harrison and Franklin townships where he uses no-till planting or vertical tillage on all of his corn and soybean acres. Romine also plants cover crops on his farms in the Shatto Ditch Watershed near Mentone as part of the SWCD Conservation Innovative Grant program, a three-year study of two-stage ditch management funded by a $368,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the Soil Judging Award, which recognizes the county’s top soil judgers, went to Wawasee High School students Kylie Fleming, Jake Templin, Kevin Schlipf and Aaron Beer. They placed in the top 10 in the September contest. Also during the meeting, David Ransbottom was reappointed to the SWCD supervisor board and John Lash was elected to a second term.
