Lesser Slave

Forest Education Society

Annual Report

Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011

“Forest Focused Environmental Education”

Executive

Chris Schischikowsky - President

Vanderwell Contractors Ltd.

Gordon Sanders - Vice President

Alberta Plywood

Trina Vercholuk - Treasurer

Public Member

Donna Moore - Secretary

Northern Lakes College

Who are we?

Non-profit educational organization

Committed to “Forest Focused Environmental

Education”

In operation since March 2000

What do we do?

Provide curriculum related programs through

interactive fieldtrips and classroom presentations

Offer programs to schools and community

groups

Deliver special event programming to summer

camps and other organizations

Host workshops for educators to help enhance

their environmental curriculum

Accomplishments to Date

Successfully presented to over 40,000 students

Completed over 1,800 curriculum-related

programs

Delivered programming to 22 summer camps

Lesser Slave Forest Education Society Synopsis

Directors

Bob Jackle—Slave Lake Pulp Corp.

Sherman Horsman—Alberta Plywood

Sue Deas —EG Wahlstrom School

Keith Branting—Buchanan Lumber

Leah Lovequist—Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

Nelson Lutz—Northern Lakes College

Ken Vanderwell—Vanderwell Contractors Ltd.

Patti Campsall—Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation (BCBC)

Corinna Horsman—CJ Schurter School

Allan Bell—Tolko industries Ltd.

M.J. Munn-Kristoff, RPF - Executive Director

Office: 1201 Main Street SE, Slave Lake, AB T0G 2A3

Phone: 780-849-8627 or email: kristoffm@northernlakescollege.ca

Forest Educators

MJ Cori Tanis

Lesser Slave Forest Education Society is a Registered Charity - # 86445 4095 RR0001

Lesser Slave Forest Education Society Board of Directors

A big THANK YOU to all the environmental educators who helped us out last year!

The inspiring work of the LSFES

reaches out to an extensive area.

There are:

7 school boards operating in

our region

25 schools currently being

serviced

9 schools primarily in

aboriginal communities

Our Region

Wow! What a year! The fire storm that hit our community in May 2011 affected our jobs and our lives enormously.

We were very fortunate to work with staff and volunteers who were extremely positive throughout the ordeal. They

were able to come together to provide assistance to the Housing Authority during the critical time after the fire as

well as providing much needed educational programs for our community. There are not enough words to express

how grateful we are to be working with such generous and caring people, so we simply say THANK YOU!

We also need to thank our main funder for the last couple of years, Community Development Trust (CDT). Our

organization, along with our partner, the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation, accomplished great achievements

with this funding. A short DVD was produced for students interested in careers in the boreal forest and over 24,000

people took part in educational programs offered by our two organizations.

Lastly, we say thank you to all of you who support us in everything we do — together we have seen over 40,000

students in the last 11 years! We could not do it without you! Congratulations!

Yours gratefully,

M.J. Munn-Kristoff

Executive Director

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Patti Annie

Kaylee Amy

Studying plants and animals

Learning about rocks and minerals

Discovering wetland ecosystems

Exploring trees and forests

Experiencing a variety of ecosystems

Appreciating biological diversity

Understanding forest industry

Planning for forest science careers

Practicing sustainable forest management

OBJECTIVE TWO To promote forest education and public awareness with special event programming throughout the year.

OBJECTIVE ONE To create, develop & implement curriculum based forest education programming from K to Grade 12.

Over 300 students took part in

Alberta Forest Week (AFW)

activities on Wildfire, Mountain

Pine Beetle, Forest Ecology, Tree

Planting and Forest Measure-

ments. Events were hosted by

Alberta Sustainable Resource

Development (ASRD), Alberta

Plywood, Vanderwell Contractors

and Buchanan Lumber. The

winners of the poster contest

received a helicopter ride courtesy

of ASRD! On the left are Jayden

Gambler and Jovita Gullion from

St. Theresa’s School in Wabasca.

On the right are Tyler Camarneiro,

Noah Mitchell, Haley Thunder and

Kieran Block from St. Mary’s

Catholic School in Slave Lake.

Grade 9

Biodiversity Hike

What is Forest Education?

2010 — 2011 Total 11 Year Grand Total

4018 students 40,000 + students

98 classroom presentations 528 classroom presentations

93 fieldtrips 1116 fieldtrips

9 forestry school tours 145 forestry school tours

AFW

Ecology Hike

AFW

Wildfire Talk

We’ve got fun down to a science!

Check out our website at www.lsfes.org

OBJECTIVE THREE To develop summer day camp programming for communities operating youth programs.

OBJECTIVE FOUR Host workshops for teachers interested in enhancing their environmental /forestry curriculum and

to provide outreach programming to the community

Last year the Lesser Slave Forest Education Society:

1. Provided resource materials to over 200 teachers

2. Attended school staff meetings in the region and promoted programs for both the LSFES and the BCBC

3. Delivered programming to students of the Alberta Teacher Education Program (U of A) on Plant Identification

4. Developed new programs used as templates for other environmental organizations across Western Canada.

The Boreal Forest Discovery Camp provides hands–on, interactive learning programs, where youth are immersed in

various environmental activities in the boreal forest. Campers learn about the plants and the wildlife that make the

boreal forest so unique, while learning the reasons why we need to manage the forest in a sustainable manner.

Ecology Hike

Campers work together to investigate the characteristics of a variety of trees and plants living in the boreal forest.

Beaver Facts and Dams

Campers learn about beavers and construct their own beaver dam, testing it out with rushing water.

Environmental Games

Campers partake in a series of initiative task games to prepare them for the FBI Mystery!

FBI MYSTERY The Forest Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was called in to solve the mystery of Andy

the Aspen (who has fallen and can’t get up!) Was it Tanis Timber and her ax? Or

maybe Fred the Fungi and his gang of spores? Campers investigated the crime

scene, interrogated the suspects and analyzed the clues. They explored 6 stations

regarding Andy’s habitat, his pals and natural enemies before solving the mystery.

5. Provided environmental education programs to over 1120

people from various community groups and the general

public. Programming included:

Winter Survival Activities

Career Fairs

Ecology Hikes

Specialized Programs

Public Relations Presentations

Winter

Survival

Fire and Rain

The Lesser Slave Forest Education Society and the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation cancelled their

regularly scheduled presentations and partnered together to provide special programming just for the Slave

Lake schools. Unfortunately, all fieldtrips into forested areas were cancelled because the areas were damaged by

fire. New programming was developed to be delivered outdoors at CJ Shurter Park in Slave Lake – but then it

rained and rained and rained! New programming had to be developed again to be presented inside the schools!

Needless to say it was an exciting month of June for everyone and we were pleased to help out the schools with our

activities. A Big Thank You to All the Schools Outside of Slave Lake who graciously gave up their scheduled

fieldtrips with the Lesser Slave Forest Education Society so that we could assist the Slave Lake schools. It could

not have been done with out you!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

On May 15, 2011 the Town of Slave Lake was

consumed by an unprecedented fire storm. The

entire town and surrounding area was evacuated

and residents did not return for 2 weeks. Local

schools reopened for the remaining 4 weeks in the

school year but students were not required to attend

due to the disaster. However, many students did

return to school and teachers were looking for

educational activities to do with their students.

Wildlife ID Environmental Games Boreal Craft

Photo Scavenger Hunt Bird ID Amazing Race

Photographer Lexine Giroux

Community Development Trust Fund Fostering Forest Stewardship Project

New Boreal Baby!

Congratulations to Cori and Chris on the

arrival of their baby girl, Delta Margaret!

She was born on July 26, 2011 and we

have nicknamed her our Boreal Baby -

though we are not sure how long she

will let us call her that!! We miss you

Cori and can’t wait for your return!

1. This year 4018 Students and 790 Adults were involved in

programming for a Grand Total of 4808 participants .

2. Partnered with Northern Lakes College in a Career and Employment

Exposition called “Job World” where 750 participants attended

from schools all over the region.

3. Community Outreach programming has doubled since last year from

600 to over 1200 participants due to our partnership with the Boreal

Centre for Bird Conservation.

4. Six New Programs developed:

Grade 7 - Interactions of Ecosystems Fieldtrip

Grade 8 - Adaptations of Freshwater Ecosystems Fieldtrip

Grade 9 - Biodiversity Hike

General Public - FBI Mystery –Andy the Aspen

General Public - Frost Fest Winter Survival Hike

General Public - Nature Photography Scavenger Hunt

Film Premiere — ―The Boreal Forest is where I want to be!‖

Other Accomplishments

In July of 2009, Community Development Trust gave a grant of $300,000 to the Lesser

Slave Forest Education Society and the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation. The grant

was used for the ―Fostering Forest Stewardship Project‖ and the goals were to:

1. Provide students and teachers with viable information regarding the boreal forest .

2. Provide education programs that increase public awareness of the boreal forest.

3. Promote forest stewardship with our youth.

4. Increase awareness of career opportunities in forestry and environmental sciences.

5. Produce a promotional DVD to showcase careers in the boreal forest.

Our ―pièce de résistance― was the creation of a short film

called “The Boreal Forest is Where I Want to Be”! The

video showcases careers in forestry and environmental

sciences and is available to schools throughout Alberta. The

film production is an upbeat, entertaining and informative 10

minute HD video targeting 12-25 year old students. The focus

of this special project is to inform students on the many career

opportunities that exist in and around the boreal forest. To

view the video go to the LSFES website www.lsfes.org or go

to the BCBC website www.borealbirdcentre.ca

Together, the BCBC and the LSFES saw over 24,000 participants in 26 months from July 2009 to August 2011.

We also created and developed 15 new curriculum based and community education programs which were

enthusiastically received by all.

Membership

Supporters

Individual Supporters

Darcie Acton & Nelson Lutz

Ronda Groom

Chris & Chrissy Schischikowsky

Brenda Gagnon

Edith Mackenzie & Pat Potvin

Sarah Carson

The Lesser Slave Forest Education Society is a non-profit educational organization.

Your donation is key to our success and is tax deductible.

Send your gift to: Lesser Slave Forest Education Society, 1201 Main Street SE, Slave Lake, AB T0G 2A3

Or contact: Chris Schischikowsky ph :780-805–3069 or email: chris@vanderwell.com

EG Wahlstrom School Cat Rentals CJ Schurter School

Alberta Camping Association

Alberta Environment

Alberta Forest Products Association

Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

Boreal Research Institute

The Business Factory

CAREERS: The Next Generation

Cattail Cabins

High Prairie and District Regional Recreation Board

Valuable Resource Organizations

THANK YOU TO OUR:

Junior Forest Wardens

Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory

Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park

Mackenzie Forest Education Society

Milestone Consulting

Nash and Company

Northern Alberta Development Council

Town of Slave Lake

WOLF (Woodland Operations Learning Foundation)

Community Development Trust

Lesser Slave Forest Education Society is a Registered Charity - # 86445 4095 RR0001

Carson Forestry Services