Turtle Point's Stiles honored for her work

Turtle Point Science Center Director Sierra Stiles was named the Best Environmental Educator for the Environmental Association of Alabama for 2022 at a professional development conference last week.

Stiles was nominated for the prestigious award by Escambia County (Ala.) Gifted Education Program Director Lisa Hurley for the Alabama Water Watch Program Stiles and Hurley partnered to bring to students in the classroom this past fall.

"We taught about stream pollution and bacteriological water monitoring, which involves looking for water to be safe to swim in and drink," said Stiles. "We took collections from the local rivers closest to the schools and incubated the results in petrie dishes on a special media to show how many e coli colonies were there and learned how to count the colonies. Kids learned about how pollution works, and how everything in the streets hits the waterways and eventually the ocean."

Stiles said it was a more intense unit for the fifth and sixth grade students in the Escambia County school's gifted program, done over about a two-month period. The unit involved looking closely at the area's local industries and the problems they might present, with micro plastics getting in the rivers and how that effects our wildlife and plants, and ultimately the diet and health of the human population.

"What's really cool about (winning) the award is that I've seen lots of my mentors and people that I've learned from and have so much respect for win it before me all these years," said Stiles. "It was awesome. Lisa told the story about how we ended up partnering this fall and how great it was for the students. They gave me the award. I cried."

This was Stile's third year as director at the facility and she relishes the opportunity to actively be involved with students, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, that has limited face-to-face interaction with classes.

"It was really exciting," said Stiles. "It feels really good to be recognized by your peers. I think it's a time the past few years, we really need to feel supported. That's been a big thing to have some partnerships during all this time."

Stiles said the kids were really excited about all the different opportunities that science allows in choosing a career. She said they were surprised to hear the many different types of jobs that involve science and environmental education and how it fits into all kinds of different professions.

"It's always eye-opening for kids to see that there're a lot of different things you can contribute to making the world a better place," she said.

Stiles said Alabama Water Watch is specifically designed with each lesson to connect kids to their local environment and world so they can really ask the questions that will help keep them safer, like understanding when it may be dangerous to swim in the creek following a flood.

"They come to understand it's never a constant thing, you have to keep watching it, monitor things," said Stiles. "They love getting to be a part of that process."

Stiles said now that Turtle Point is open, the students will be able to study the animals effected by water and the bacteriological content for testing themselves when they come as a class. She said they had taken the water in containers before but this spring students will be able to do their own sampling and testing on site.

"I think it's a great opportunity to keep doing the water watch curriculum with the kids," she said. "These real learning projects, place-based learning, really give the kids a better connection with science and with what they are learning in the classroom."

Stiles said she definitely plans to continue to implement the programs as much as possible and continue to do the volunteer water monitoring and get as many kids involved as possible. She welcomes teachers to call and schedule classes or send her an email through the website and she will get back to them with details. She said they also work with homeschool groups and out of system schools.

Turtle Point is open the same hours school is in, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m, and for special events on Saturdays. It's closed the same holidays schools are closed. Stiles said they will host an Open House on Saturday, April 9, the same day the town of Flomaton will have a craft bazaar at Hurricane Park and she is hoping to have many visitors, especially with projects going on currently.

"The boardwalk is open and we are revamping butterfly house with new plants and repairs," said Stiles. "We have a Bird Bus, an observation blind where kids can see out. Lots of birds will be coming in."

Stiles said Modern Woodmen of America recently donated birdseed to help attract birds and she looks forward to having visitors and guests to come and see.

"I've loved working at Turtle point. I think this I one of the most special places in the whole world and I love getting the opportunity to share it with everyone, as my dream job and I just cant wait to do more and more, I love it," said Stiles.