On Monday, September 20, the fourth annual fall Environmental Summit was held at Harford Glen Environmental Education Center.

     This season’s summit was hosted by Harford County based on the theme of water quality of streams and ponds on Harford County Public School property. Participants included high schools from all across the county including 11 students from North Harford along with 2 NH summit leaders, seniors Shane Dougherty and Molly Shephard.

     According to Dougherty, the experience has given him the opportunity not only to help spread ideas of the community, but also his own ideas. Dougherty said, “I have been able to express my views on the environment to other people and suggest ideas to further expand the ‘green’ aspects of our schools and communities.”

     Three members from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and one Harford County Public Schools energy manager led the classroom instruction and workshops. Dan Boward led a workshop on benthic macroinvertebrates in a program titled “’Gett’in Buggy.”  Andy Becker discussed aquatic life and fisheries in his “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” workshop, which was accompanied by a power point presentation and then an outdoor electronic ID demonstration by one of his employees. Last but not least, Andrew Cassilly discussed water conservation in his instructional class while including information on water quality on HCPS property.

     After the conclusion of the lectures, many students from North Harford approached Mr.Cassilly with questions as to why Harford County has yet to install an underground well monitoring system in our wetlands in conjunction with our waste water treatment plant. Although he did not have a direct answer to their questions, he said, “I don’t know how much authority I will have in this subject, but I will at least try and be a voice and help you push forth your efforts.”

     The Summit came to a close with a lunch discussion provided by the Harford Glen Foundation and an evaluation request from summit leaders and staff for the spring meeting.