Sudlersville Elementary School Environmental Club

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On March 29, 2011 MWDI volunteer Steve Seningen, Sudlersville Elementary School Enrichment Teacher Alison Vooris, and Jackie Sweetak, owner of the Sweetak Farm near Crumpton, hosted an educational field experience for fourteen 4th and 5th grade students, members of the Sudlersville Elementary School Environmental Club.

Alison Vooris runs the Environmental Club at the school. Jackie Sweetak is the mother of two of the students  and owner of the farm where the project took place.

Steve Seningen started with a 30-minute outdoor classroom, explaining wood duck habitat, nesting, behavior, and conservation efforts. There was a wood duck box with nest, an egg surrounded by down, and talk of hatching, diet and dangers.

Following this instruction, the group went to the Chester River and the students helped carry boxes and equipment to the shore. There they drove in poles, mounted 3 wood duck nest boxes, and filled them with nesting material.

Alison and Steve will coordinate a second visit to the site in late May or early June to begin nest monitoring and data collection, as part of an ongoing Sudlersville Elementary School  Environmental Club. Steve also plans to speak to 5 classes at Sudlersville Elementary School about wood ducks and this project as part of the school's Earth Day celebration.

This new project is part of the larger MWDI Red Lion Creek (Upper Chester River effort, where Steve Seningen serves as Project Manager for the area above Crumpton.

Our thanks and kudos to Steve, Alison, and Jackie for coordinating this event and congratulations to the Sudlersville students who have adopted this new Wood Duck Nest Box Project.