The Peter Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District organized a field trip to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach in November. The Buckingham County High School Envirothon team members, coached by Andy Schmitt, and students from Kris Stewart’s ecology class toured the center, boarded a 40-foot boat and explored the Lynnhaven River and Chesapeake Bay. They trawled for fish, pulled up crab and eel pots, performed water quality monitoring and explored marshlands.

Students learned all kinds of interesting facts about the creatures they pulled up from the sea. They watched with amazement as a blowfish inflated and then deflated. For many students it was the first time they had seen the Chesapeake Bay and, for one student, it was the first time they had ever been on a boat.

The district hopes to do this field trip again for middle school students during our Environmental Day Camp May 31-June 2. The school sent out a special thanks to Virginia Dominion Power for funding the trip through a grant for the Envirothon Team, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, guide Yancey Powell and Captain Jimmy Sollner.