June 2026
By Kat Resanovich, Volunteer Coordinator & Educator
Volunteer Nancy Bronstein helping a student search their net for creatures
Every spring, our preserve comes alive almost every weekday morning with the sound of excited, curious, and sometimes nervous students arriving for a field trip. This year, our education staff had some extra helping hands, 6 fantastic field trip volunteers. Over the course of less than 2 months, these volunteers helped welcome 19 different schools and over 45 classes. Having these volunteers as a part of our team supported our education staff and gave students a more personal and engaging experience.
The volunteers who helped with the field trips this Spring were an exciting mix of people who brought unique experiences and knowledge to the trips. Ann Furze, a retired Syracuse City School District teacher, got to help with some of the schools and even the staff she used to work with. Carol Stokes-Cawley, who used to be an educator at Baltimore Woods, Nancy Bronstein, a master naturalist, and Sue March, a long-time Board member and volunteer, got to break out all of their pond and stream knowledge. Some of our A-Team volunteers, Cathy Morton and Sue Roche, got to share their knowledge of our preserve with dozens of students. All of these fantastic volunteers went through training to learn about the field trips and what the students will be doing. Some of the volunteers even braved the snow to explore the pond and stream for our first training.
Volunteer Sue Roche helping a student search their net for creatures
All of our Spring Pond and Stream trips involve the same activities: exploring the pond and stream to catch creatures that can tell us how clean the water is. Even though they do the same activities, every field trip is different; every group of students have lots of different questions, interests, and level of comfort being outside. Our volunteers helped us make sure that each class had a unique, personal, and hands-on experience. It can be tough for one educator to focus on every single student in large classes and answer all their questions, help them look through their net for tiny creatures, and ensure they are understanding what they are doing. Having 1-2 volunteers on every field trip meant that more students could get this 1 on 1 help and attention. I was amazed at how these volunteers, some of them who had never seen pond creatures like a giant water bug or dragonfly nymph before, dove right into helping students get engaged. The volunteers quite literally got their hands dirty digging through nets, picking up aquatic macroinvertebrates to help students find them, identify them, and learn about them. Many students are very nervous or uncertain when they first arrive because the trip is a totally new experience for them. Some don’t want to look in the water or touch creatures, but thanks to this extra support, most students’ fears faded away by the end of the program, and they were even excited to find leeches! In fact, that was some of the volunteers’ favorite parts. Ann Furze said, “helping kids touch icky, cool stuff & discovering that it isn’t all that bad” was her favorite part of the trip.
Volunteers learning about the pond macroinvertebrates at field trip
Students and teachers repeatedly tell us that these trips are their favorite ever, or they come back for camp, with their families, or on another class field trip, and remember all the cool things they saw and how much fun they had. Thanks to the amazing volunteers this year, these students got to have even better experiences, and our educators got extra support. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped with field trips this year and to our school program manager, Katie Robideau, for working with and training all of the volunteers. We can’t wait for more field trips next school year!
If you’re interested in getting involved in volunteering, fill out our volunteer interest form: baltimorewoods.org/volunteer-request-for-information/ or reach out to [email protected]