You don't have to be part of the Newport Student Conservation Association (SCA) to join us in our endeavors to beautify our community. We're always posting the dates and information of our upcoming volunteer events throughout the community and on social media to get all of our friends and neighbors involved! We have so many that we do throughout the year that we have no doubt you'll find one that fits into your schedule perfectly.
Our club members volunteer with the local elementary schools in the Newport area during their free periods to help teach students ages 5-11 about the environment and how they can do their part to conserve resources! We work with teachers to pick the perfect time to come in and visit for a short lesson that may include games, activities, and easy-to-understand details about what we do. Oftentimes, since our student volunteers work with the teachers, we find out a little bit about what they're learning and try to connect our visit to that topic so they can make connections. The goal is to get them excited about the environment by keeping them active and entertained as they learn so that they will get excited about conservation.
Newport and its surrounding areas have so many beautiful bodies of water that unfortunately see their fair share of litter. This is why every month we pick a different body of water in the area to work together and clean up the litter that builds up. We aim to rotate through all of the bodies of water in the area no matter how big or how small they may be to ensure that the local wildlife in and around those water sources aren't affected by the litter people dump while passing by. Anybody in the community can come join us for these cleanup sessions whenever they want, especially if they want to ensure the body of water closest to them is clean.
There are so many beautiful parks and trails in the area that unfortunately see their fair share of litter. So our club has teamed up with the local park rangers to participate in trail cleanup activities. Alongside the litter, we work with park rangers to help keep the trails clear of any debris and in some cases we even help with bigger tasks like improving trail drainage, making sure the trail markers are clear, and keeping an eye out for any invasive species that may be a problem to the local wildlife. These cleanup activities are much more structured than some of our other ones because we work specifically with the local rangers and they are in charge of what is done so if you're interested in joining us, please let us know so we can inform the rangers.
As great as it is to have amazing new restaurants and places to visit when new buildings pop up, they take away more from the environment which can not only cause problems for the local wildlife but also take away most of the nature we see in our everyday lives. This is why we try to do what we can with habitat restoration by planting new trees, shrubs, and flowers, and laying down grass seeds in local areas like parks. When we do these events, we provide drinks and snacks to all our volunteers and make a big day of it because there's nothing more fun than freshening up our community.
Anybody in the area is welcome to join us for any of these activities! We always appreciate the help and support from our community. Simply let us know so we can have an accurate headcount and we know how many supplies to bring. We'd love to have as many people as possible working together to conserve the many natural resources Newport has!
