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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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