District K - 12 Grade Education Programs for Pickens County
The Pickens Soil & Water Conservation District along with the National Association of Conservation Districts is excited to announce the
2024 Poster, Essay and Photography Contest theme:
”May The Forest Be With You Always”
Contact the Pickens Soil & Water Conservation District for more information by phone: 864-878-6155 or email: pickensswcd@gmail.com
Contest entries deadline: Thursday, April 18, 2024 by 2:00 p.m.
Parents, Educators, & ALL Pickens County Residents
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Take advantage of this awesome opportunity for your children/students of Pickens County. Poster Contest, Essay Contest & Photo Contest for Grades K-12th. Individual project for Private School, Homeschool and Public School children
Why Participate?
Researching the theme to design a poster, write an essay or take a photograph gives you a voice in your community on important conservation issues. Posters, essays and photographs tell important stories to present and future generations. Capturing people’s attention with a powerful graphic, and inspire with a message to your community.
Classroom Presentations
To set up classroom presentations to help the students prepare for the contest, Contact: Anaston Porter- Education Coordinator for the Pickens Soil & Water Conservation District by email:
anaston.porter@andersonswcd.org
Conservation Teacher of the Year Award
Conservation Teacher of the Year Award recognizes a teacher who has been actively working to advance environmental and conservation education. Procedure: Submit a brief narrative describing the teacher’s qualifications for this award including a list of his or her conservation education activities or programs to the Pickens County Soil and Water Conservation District,
pickensswcd@gmail.com. Candidates must be currently teaching K-12th grade in public and private schools in Pickens County.
Yearly Education Contests
2024 Education Contests Are Now Open!
Deadline to enter is April 18th, 2024 by 2:00 pm
New 2024 Environmental Pathways Scholarship
$1,000
Pickens County Soil & Water Conservation District (PSWCD) strives to provide education programs, knowledge and support related to agriculture, water, soil and natural resources in our county. We are proud to announce PSWCD will award a $1000 scholarship with funds supported through Peach State Federal Credit Union, Pickens Branch, this year to a deserving High School Senior in Pickens County.
We will choose one Pickens County High School Senior student to receive this award who is pursuing a college degree in agriculture, forestry, wildlife, soils, water quality or a related field. This individual may be from a public, private or homeschool group.
Applicants will be considered with emphasis on the following areas:
Agricultural background and related activities
Scholastic achievement
Financial need
Extra-curricular activities
Applications are due by April 18th, 2024 by 2:00 pm.
Applications will be available with your local Ag Leader and at the PSWCD office located at 144 McDaniel Ave. Pickens, SC 29671. Please contact Aimee Brown at the conservation district office at (864) 878-6155 if you need any additional information on the scholarship. Previous recipients can not apply.
About our education programs:
Teachers and Educators in Pickens County! The Pickens Soil and Water Conservation District is now offering K - 12 environmental education programs for the county! Our Education and Outreach Coordinator, Anaston Porter, will come out to your classroom and teach a 30 - 45 minute lesson on one of the following topics: soil, water, natural resources, agriculture, careers in ag, and so much more! Our Education and Outreach Coordinator is certified in Project WET, WILD and Learning Tree Curriculum and all of the lessons are based off of this curriculum.
Lessons are tailored to each grade level and meet SC Science Standards, Common Core Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards! Contact us for more info if you are interested in having us come to your classroom or homeschool group!!
2023 Education Contest Winners
Congratulations to the following School District of Pickens County Teachers and Students
In Honor of Outstanding Performance
Jill Keeran ~ Central Academy of the Arts
Kelli Abernethy ~ Six Mile Elementary
Elizabeth Atcheson ~ Six Mile Elementary
Beth Bladon ~ Six Mile Elementary
Sophia Barry ~ Six Mile Elementary
Gillian Black ~ Pickens County Career & Technology Center
2023 Poster Contest Winners
K - 1st Grade
1st Place: Reese Townsend
2nd Place: LeeAnn Gordon
2nd - 3rd Grade
1st Place: Anna Atcheson
4th - 5th Grade
1st Place: Carter Atcheson
6th - 8th Grade
1st Place: Aubrey Greeno
2nd Place: JulieAnn Robinson
3rd Place: Baylee Maxwell
2023 Photography Contest Winners
K - 5th Grade
1st Place: Reese Townsend
6th - 8th Grade
1st Place: Jimena Olvera Guerrero
2nd Place: Jacob Escancy
3rd Place: Eli Stewart
2023 Essay Contest Winners
K - 1st Grade
2nd - 2rd Grade
4th - 5th Grade
6th - 8th Grade
1st Place: Reese Townsend
1st Place: Anna Atcheson
1st Place: Carter Atcheson
1st Place: Alexis Plott
2nd Place: Malachi Land
3rd Place: Isaac Roe
2022 Education Contest: Congratulations to the following School District of Pickens County Teachers & Students
In Honor of Outstanding Performance:
Taylor Holden - Six Mile Elementary School Gillian Black - Pickens County Career & Technology Center
Chuck Conrad - Daniel High School Dawn Rucker - Pickens High School Kathryn Holcombe - Pickens High School
2022 Poster Contest Winners
Poster Contest
Winners
Kindergarten ~ 5th Grade
1st Place: Carter Atcheson
Six Mile Elementary School
2nd Place: Anna Atcheson
Six Mile Elementary School
3rd Place: Reese Townsend
Pickens County Virtual Academy
Poster Contest
Winners
6th Grade ~ 8th Grade
1st Place: Kennedy King
Pickens County Career & Technology Center
2nd Place: Maegan Kannarney
Pickens County Career & Technology Center
3rd Place: Ella Grace Boynton
Pickens CountyCareer & Technology Center
Poster Contest
Winners
9th Grade ~ 12th Grade
1st Place: Cory Raby
Pickens High School
2nd Place: Rheannon Shepard
Pickens High School
3rd Place: Sada Dempsey
Daniel High School
2022 PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
Photography Contest
Winners
Kindergarten ~ 5th Grade
1st Place: Anna Atcheson
Six Mile Elementary School
2nd Place: Reese Townsend
Pickens County Virtual Academy
3rd Place: Annabelle Holland
Six Mile Elementary
Photography Contest
Winners
9th Grade ~ 12th Grade
1st Place: Sada Dempsey
Daniel High School
2nd Place: Cory Raby
Pickens High School
3rd Place: Rheannon Shepard
Pickens High School
2022 Essay Contest Winners
Essay Contest
Winners
Kindergarten ~ 5th Grade
1st Place
Reese Townsend
Pickens County Virtual Academy
2nd Place
Annabelle Holland
Six Mile Elementary
3rd Place
Carter Atcheson
Six Mile Elementary
Essay Contest
Winners
9th Grade ~ 12th Grade
1st Place
Sada Dempsey
Daniel High School
2nd Place
Cory Raby
Pickens High School
Education is a critical element of the conservation effort at the local, state and national levels. Educating young people about the benefits of conservation helps to ensure the next generation will be wise stewards of America’s natural resources. In 1955, the National Association of Conservation Districts began a national program to encourage Americans to focus on stewardship. Stewardship Week is officially celebrated from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in May. It is one of the world’s largest conservation-related observances.
The program relies on conservation districts sharing and promoting stewardship and conservation through field days, educational programming, and workshops to educate citizens about the need to care for our natural resources. Many district activities extend beyond the one-week observance to include an entire year of outreach. Stewardship Week helps to remind us all of the power each person has to conserve natural resources and improve the world. When everyone works together with their local conservation district, that power continuously grows. The Stewardship and Education Committee has developed a five-year rotation for stewardship topics – water, soil, habitat, forestry, and a topic of interest – and determines the theme each year.
SC Envirothon places 6th at NCF Envirothon!
2019 SC Envirothon from Spartanburg High School posing with their NCF Envirothon Award. From left to right is Justin Barron, Emma Sandago, Nathan Jones, Isabella Goodchild-Michelman, and Nolan Sykes.
Out of 45 of States, 6 Canadian Provinces, and 2 Chinese Delegations, our SC Envirothon team from Spartanburg High School finished 6th overall at the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon! The team competed throughout the week in tests involving soils, aquatics, wildlife, forestry, and a current issue of “agriculture and the environment: knowledge and technology to feed the world”. Each of the students won a $200 scholarship. We could not be more proud of our team. Go Vikes!
Congratulations to the 2019 SC Envirothon from
Spartanburg High School
The SC Envirothon strives to advance environmental awareness through an outdoor venue for high school students to assess their knowledge of natural resource management issues and to promote a life-long commitment to environmental stewardship. For more information please visit:
www.dnr.sc.gov/education/Envirothon
https://www.facebook.com/SCEnvirothon/
Get involved in your local Pickens County 4-H!
Contact Janine Sutter if you are interested in joining a 4-H Club in Pickens County (jsutter@clemson.edu) (864) 878-1394 ext. 122
Address: 222 W. Main Street Pickens, SC 29671
BELOW IS A LIST OF PICKENS COUNTY 4-H CLUBS...JOIN TODAY!
Club Name Ages Meeting Place Leader Name Contact Info
Wildlife Club 5 - 15 Pickens 4-H Office Anaston Porter anaston.porter@gmail.com
Junior Gardener Elem Grades Botanical Gardens, Clemson Sue Watts carowatts@gmail.com
Blue Ribbon Riders Horse Club 5-18 Eden Farms, Dacusville Kay Mason kayivah@yahoo.com
Silver Spurs Horse Club 5-18 King’s Grove Stables, Six Mile Lindsey Davis Ldacus6178@yahoo.com
Shotgun Club 9-18 Clemson University Shotgun Range, Clemson Lynn Moore glennrmoore@bellsouth.net
Rabbit Club 5-18 Littlejohn Community Center, Clemson Tina Reif treif@clemson.edu
Livestock Club COMING SOON!! Eden Wallace edencreatives@charter.net
Explorers Club 5-18 Pickens 4-H Office Diana Byrd Bluebyrd04@gmail.com
Cooking Club 5-18 Pickens 4-H Office Erin Stewart Estewart2361@hotmail.com
Scuba Club 10-up Various local lakes Julie Wolfe mamawolfe@mac.com
Poultry Pals 5-10 Pickens 4-H Office Melissa Curtis barnyardhippie@gmail.com
Curiosity Club 9-16 Pickens 4-H Office Donna Leamey dleamey@msn.com
Homesteading Club 8-15 Dacusville Lisa Aman dancingmidwife@gmail.com