Join Laurel and Amy for a morning training to learn how to volunteer at PVAS’s youth field trips!

PVAS Host: Laurel Schwartz, Amy Thomas

Free and open to the public. This program is for adults. Registration is required and limited to 25 participants.

PVMN Continuing Education Credit Eligible

Are you interested in becoming a volunteer for PVAS’s youth programs field trips? Sign up for our volunteer training on Monday, September 30th. This Training will be held at Cool Spring Preserve and will take place from 9:30 AM to noon, and will be led by Laurel Schwartz, our Watershed Program Coordinator. During the training, you’ll learn all about our 4th grade Watershed program and the engaging activities that we bring to our field trips!

Though this training will focus largely on our Watershed Program, PVAS Lead Teacher and Naturalist, Amy, will also provide demonstrations and tips for leading nature walks, which apply to our other nature-based field trips and youth programs.

If you have attended this training before, you are not required to attend again to volunteer this season, though you are more than welcome to come to refresh your memory and skills or meet like-minded people!

Reach out to Laurel Schwartz, Laurel@potomacaudubon.org, if you have any questions. We hope that you will consider volunteering your time to help us facilitate awesome and enriching nature experiences for the youth of our community!

• Walking Distance: Less than 1 mile
• Pace: Leisurely (meandering, many breaks to stop and observe)
• Exposure: Partial shade. Some areas of full sun.
• Terrain: Hard ground/hiking trail – though depending on conditions some areas of the trail may be wet/soggy. Gentle slopes/rolling hills
• Restroom: Indoor, flushing restrooms will be available.
• Parking/Where to Meet: Participants should meet at the back deck (just down from the parking lot) of the Nature Center.
• What to Bring: Dress for the weather and bring water!

Register Here!

About Laurel:

Laurel Schwartz is our Watershed Program Coordinator and has been working in this role with PVAS since September 2021. She serves as Site Director at Yankauer for Summer Camp.

Laurel is a lifelong Jefferson County resident and Shepherd University graduate.  She graduated from Shepherd University with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Sustainable Resource Management. During the summers between the school year, she worked as a seasonal Park Ranger for both the National Park Service, at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and the Army Corps of Engineers, at Loyalhanna Lake Recreation Area. After graduation, Laurel served an AmeriCorps year (2019-2020) with us as an Environmental Educator.  Through this role, she fell in love with youth education and nature interpretation. After her AmeriCorps year, Laurel worked for Virginia Tech as a Soil Science Research Associate and a Jefferson County Substitute Teacher.

In her free time, Laurel can be found hiking, spending time with her dogs, relaxing in a hammock, or in the kitchen trying out new recipes.

About Amy: 

Amy is our Lead Teacher and Naturalist. She first worked for PVAS starting in 2012 as a camp counselor for three summers and then as camp director in 2015.

While studying at Towson University, Amy interned with the National Aquarium and Irvine Nature Center and worked for the University’s Office of Sustainability as a Compost Educator. Amy was also very involved in her university’s Outdoor Adventure program where she worked as an Outdoor Trip Leader, Kayak Clinic Instructor, Challenge Course Facilitator and Climbing Gym Supervisor. After earning her BA in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Informal Environmental Education in 2015, she served as a Chesapeake Conservation Corps member, working as a naturalist at Meadowside Nature Center in Rockville, Maryland. Most recently, Amy worked as a field instructor at the Mountain Institute at Spruce Knob, West Virginia, where she led students on backpacking trips and taught Watershed Education programs.

In her free time, Amy enjoys backpacking, biking, rock climbing, kayaking and cross-country skiing.