Youth Groups on the Dragon

By Molly Broderson and Carol Kauffman

Forty-five students from Aylett Country Day School (ACDS), Peasley Middle School, Middlesex High School, and local homeschoolers kayaked Dragon Run with FODR volunteers during the week of May 16 - May 20, 2022.

By Molly Broderson and Carol Kauffman

We had a blast on our paddle of the Dragon! It was a fantastic way to end our school year and wrap up our study of ecosystems. The species ID competition was a hit! The 2 groups found 69 and 62 species, respectively. For the record, the first team that paddled won the competition and they enjoyed ice cream on the last Friday of the school year!

Our species ID program has been supported with funding from the Three Rivers Soil and Water Conservation District Mini-Grant. Funds helped purchase field equipment and scopes to help ID Macro and Micro Invertebrates in the watershed. We also received funding from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration 'Friend of the Chesapeake' License Plate Fund to help get our students out into the best parts of our watershed.

​Our students get to explore the bay from the Atlantic to the Blueridge. The Dragon Run is our backyard...and for the last 2 years it has been the favorite field trip of our 7th Grade students. Thank You all for your help pulling this program together, I am very excited about how this partnership is developing.

                                                                                                                                                           Richard Moncure, Science Teacher at ACDS

Forty-five students from Aylett Country Day School (ACDS), Peasley Middle School, Middlesex High School, and local homeschoolers kayaked Dragon Run with FODR volunteers during the week of May 16, 2022. They have been studying the Dragon Run watershed in their science classes, so a field day in the Dragon Run swamp was a fantastic way to finish up the school year! Two schools hiked the FODR trails near Big Island and ACDS also performed some water quality testing.

​Henrik Ibsen is credited with the adage “A picture is worth a thousand words.” With that said, please enjoy the Dragon through the words and eyes of students.

“I liked it and I learned about smart weed, that it’s Indian pepper, and that dead trees are full of life! I enjoyed kayaking and hiking!”- CJ

It was really fun and I enjoyed it. I would want to do it again!” Kara

The “kayaking part was really fun and I liked learning about all the birds, it was exciting! - Natalie

Milkweed, damsel flies, muskrats, princess pine, bald cypress and arrow arum are some of the cool plants and animals we learned about.  It was relaxing to paddle down the Dragon run- Blake

Thanks for making this learning opportunity happen for our students. They were excited to explore this ecosystem.  It was well organized, informative and well-staffed. - S. Sowers-