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| Wetlands Estonoa In The News  Press Release – A New Mix of Students Join Team Estonoa
August 25, 2011
By Alli Trent – CHS Senior & Team Estonoa Member 
A new year -- a new mix of students at Estonoa!! On Sunday, August 21, 2011, sixteen students showed up to volunteer their time at the Wetlands Estonoa Learning Center. Old and new faces united to begin the thirteenth year of the project. Team members served by working on the path, collecting brush, leaf blowing, painting rails, working on PowerPoint’s and gathering new information. Everyone’s time really paid off because plenty of work was accomplished in the short two hours. Castlewood High School students, Terry Vencil, Estonoa Director and CHS teacher, and two parent/mentors participated in this year’s kick-off. Anyone (8th graders or older) from the region is welcome to join the team. We serve every Sunday from 2 to 4 pm. For more pictures and updates on Team Estonoa and Wetlands Estonoa projects, be sure to visit our blog.
Clinch Valley Times - Thursday, August 18, 2011 Council Designates CHS Estonoa's Home School St. Paul Town Council approved a resolution introduced by Councilman Monty Salyer which designates Castlewood High School as the Wetlands Estonoa's home school. The Town of St. Paul owns Wetlands Estonoa and the Vencil Learning Center, and Council recently appointed Estonoa mentor Terry Vencil as Executive Director of the project, which has earned national and international recognition for St. Paul High School and the area. Vencil, a former SPHS teacher, is now at Castlewood High School. One section of Salyer's resolution states: "Whereas, the vast majority of former SPHS students have chosen to attend Castlewood High School, thus creating a new community school for the St. Paul and Castlewood Community... Now Therefore Be It Resolved that the Town Council of the Town of St. Paul recognizes and appreciates the accolades of Estonoa and all its educational contributions to the St. Paul and Castlewood community, declares Castlewood High School as the home school for Estonoa Wetlands and the Vencil Learning Center."
Team Estonoa & the Clinch River Mussel Nursery-Mussel Silos Deployed June 9, 2011, St. Paul, Virginia VDGIF's Mike Pinder and Amanda Duncan aided Team Estonoa members expand their Mussel Nursery on the Clinch. Team members were Chandra Brickey, Chris Howard, Camron Parsons, Ashley Slate, Coe Turner, and Estonoa Mentor, Teresa Vencil. This year the Team is growing the same species of mussels, wavy rayed lamp mussels. Last year four silos were placed at each of four sites north of St. Paul while this year the Team is adding one more silo at each site (5/site) and monitoring growth SOUTH of St. Paul. The mussels will be monitored monthly for growth and viability. After the October monitoring, the mussels will be tagged and released. Team members will adopt fourth grade students at St. Paul & Castlewood Elementary Schools this year. Visits will be made in the classrooms to discuss the importance of mussels, their life cycle and the fourth graders will be invited to participate in the release. 
This project is made possible through the financial support of Dominion Resources and the technical support and the supply of the animals by the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries.
CGI Donates $1,000 to Wetlands Estonoa Learning Center St. Paul High School Students, Environmental Learning Center Honored for Earth Month 
Fairfax, Virginia, May 20, 2011 – CGI Group Inc (NYSE: GIB; TSX: GIB.A), a leading provider of information technology and business process services, today donated $1,000 to the Wetlands Estonoa Learning Center, in St. Paul, VA in honor of Earth Month. CGI’s donation will help support the Wetlands Environmental Learning Center for St. Paul High School students and their local community. Throughout the month of April, CGI members were asked to vote for their favorite “green” non-profit organization working to enhance the environment. Among the members who voted, Wetlands Estonoa was selected to receive the $1,000 donation which was contributed by CGI. The St. Paul students, known as “Team Estonoa”, initiate and coordinate projects that improve the Wetlands Estonoa environment and educate the community concerning the importance of watershed management regarding their water resource—Clinch River. As the students continue to develop a learning center on a wetlands area located in the center of St. Paul, VA, the center will promote the study of a wetlands ecosystem and encourage the preservation of a natural resource. Additionally, local citizens, students from St. Paul High School and Elementary School, as well as individuals from neighboring counties have access to the Wetlands Estonoa Learning Center. “Today CGI is honoring Wetlands Estonia for Earth Month and thanking the students of St. Paul High School for their dedication to improving the community’s environment and enhancing our natural resources so they exist for many years to come,” said CGI Vice President, Mark Eschle. To learn more about CGI’s corporate social responsibility program, follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cgi_csr). About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 31,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices and centres of excellence in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. As at March 31, 2011, CGI's annualized revenue was approximately C$4.5 billion and its order backlog was approximately C$12.6 billion. CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index. Website: www.cgi.com. For more information: Media Mara Sheldon Director, US Media Relations 703-267-8402 mara.sheldon@cgi.com
February 7, 2011 Team Estonoa and the Appalachian Ecology Students Enterviewed by WCYB Channel 5 and FOX 13 News 
To view the news spot, click on or follow this link: http://www.wcyb.com/video/26782497/index.html
February 6, 2011 SPHS Awarded Top Three Schools Successful in STEM Teaching and Learning The Appalachian Math and Science Project , which involves 56 school district, 4 state partnerships, and 9 universities/colleges, has chosen St. Paul High School as one of the three most successful STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching and learning schools based on the : (1) amount of activity of the teachers as participants in the different AMSP programs, (2) St Paul’s continued growth academically in the STEM areas and (3) continued support and growth in the community of STEM.
February 6, 2011 Board of Education Excellence Awards St. Paul High School was recently awarded the 2011 Board of Education Excellence Award. Eight school divisions and 323 schools earned the Board of Education Excellence Award. These schools and divisions have met all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and have made significant progress toward goals for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunities set by the BOE.
February 6, 2011 St. Paul High School Recognized as Virginia Naturally School Great News! The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Virginia Naturally School Recognition Program is proud to recognize St. Paul High School as a Virginia Naturally School. Schools currently receiving this recognition have demonstrated exemplary efforts to promote good stewardships of Virginia’s natural resources during the 2009-2010 school year. In addition, Virginia Naturally Schools work to promote civic pride through knowledge of the community history in the area in which they reside. Virginia Naturally Schools must meet specific requirements which increase with each successive year a school achieves this recognition. St. Paul High School is one of 4 schools that has been recognized since the beginning, eleven years ago.
All schools meeting first year requirements as a Virginia Naturally School have qualified in four areas: administrative support, staff development and curricular integration, resource conservation efforts, and school/community based projects. Additional requirements for schools qualifying beyond the first year include: documentation of efforts to secure library materials/equipment to help students learn about the environment and to enhance field studies; developing instructional settings/outdoor classrooms; and developing community partnerships with area businesses, parent teacher organizations, and area civic groups. Schools entering the program for the first year receive a plaque, while schools continuing their efforts receive a pennant imprinted with a symbol of our Commonwealth.
One of the hallmarks of St. Paul High School’s environmental program is our recycling program and our wetlands project called Estonoa.
For information about our environmental stewardship efforts of St. Paul High School, contact Paul Clendenon-SPHS principal.
September 20, 2010 Team Estonoa Member Attends Customer Service Workshop Kitty Barker of the Virginia Tourism Corporation and Dawn Jessee of the Oxbow Center hosted a Customer Service Workshop on Monday, September 20. Team Estonoa was represented by member Skyler Campbell and mentor Pam Campbell-Vance. Eco-tourism is a major draw to St. Paul and the surrounding area and we want to provide the best possible tours, presentations and hospitality to our visitors. It was an excellent seminar and we came away equipped to share with the team positive behaviors to enhance our visitor's experience, how to treat and support our Team Estonoa members, mentors and supporters as well as team confidence building.
September 16, 2010 Dominion Resources Presents Team Estonoa With Hillman House Landscaping Grant - Clinch Valley Times Four members of St. Paul High School's Team Estonoa were on hand at the Wise County School Board meeting on Monday to accept a $5,000 check from Dominion Resources for landscaping work they plan to do at the Hillman House in St. Paul. Pictured, left to right (below), are Dominion's Greg Edwards, who made the presentation, and Team Estonoa members Chloe Parsell, Hannah Edmonds, Ashley Slate and Skyler Campbell. Also present were Team Estonoa mentor Teresa Vencil, SPHS principal Paul Clendenon, assistant principal Vikie Welch, and a group of SOHS supporters. 
April 22, 2010 Town Council Hears Team Estonoa’s Washington Report - Clinch Valley Times St. Paul High School’s Team Estonoa showed the St. Paul Town Council the PowerPoint program which it will present in Washington DC for representatives of the Corporation for National Community Services, the United States Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the US Departments of Forestry, Labor and Transportation, as well as several other federal agencies. SPHS is one of two schools invited to make presentations to these groups. In addition, Team Estonoa will display its project on the Washington Mall on Earth Day, April 24. Council and the audience gave Team Estonoa and its mentor, SPHS teacher Terry Vencil, a standing ovation. At the suggestion of IDA chair Bob Harrison, the Council voted to help fund the trip.
4/22/2010 Team Estonoa Hosts Ferrum Students & Teachers - Clinch Valley Times St. Paul High School’s Team Estonoa hosted Ferrum College for a work day at Wetlands Estonoa on April 10. Lunch was served to the twenty students and three professors. Members of Team Estonoa presented the PowerPoint they plan to showcase in Washington DC on April 23. In return, Ferrum College helped Team Estonoa mulch the Estonoa gardens, and also presented Team Estonoa with a check. The day was concluded with reflections and the use of “Where I’m From Poems.”
SPHS Team Estonoa members Chloe Parsell, left, and Skyler Campbell receive a donation
from Dr. Susan Meade, a professor at Ferrum College
April 22, 2010 Dominion Unites with Team Estonoa for Mussel Nursery - Clinch Valley Times
Reprinted from, Estonoa News, Team Estonoa’s Spring Newsletter St. Paul High School’s Wetlands Estonoa Learning Center and Team Estonoa have received a five thousand dollar grant from Dominion Resources. Team Estonoa currently dreams of establishing an endangered mussel nursery on the Clinch, and Dominion is igniting those dreams! With Dominion’s support, young endangered mussels will be nestled in baskets around the existing dock, grown for about a year, and released in the section of the Clinch River adjacent to St. Paul. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has expressed an interest in working with Team Estonoa on the project. After visiting Estonoa, the Department determined the wetlands should be suitable for mussel growth in the nutrient and amount of water categories. But Estonoa’s dissolved oxygen values are too low to support mussel growth. VDGIF also suggested that the floating dock be moved closer to the center and extended farther into the wetlands. Team Estonoa proposes to extend and move the floating dock and install floating solar aerators. During the first year (Spring 2010-Spring 2011). Team Estonoa students will renovate and move the dock, seed mussels in floating baskets, and monitor the mussels’ growth monthly. Once the juveniles have reached an appropriate maturity, Team Estonoa in partnership with Dominion employees and VDGIF will release Estonoa’s “children” into the Clinch River. The process will be repeated during successive years for at least five rounds. All activities will be conducted in partnership with Dominion Resources and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
April 22, 2010 For Earth Day – SPHS Decorates Sidewalks to Promote Earth Day Goals - Clinch Valley Times FOR EARTH DAY… St. Paul High School’s Team Estonoa followed a tradition of long standing this week by decorating sidewalks near the school with chalk drawings promoting Earth Day goals. In addition, this year, Team Estonoa, by invitation, will exhibit its work on the Washington Mall on Earth Day. From chalk on the sidewalk to the Mall at the Smithsonian… quite a jump!
April 20, 2010 - Press Release from the Dept. Of Education Virginia Students to Discuss Service Learning Projects on April 23 Wise County & Chesapeake Bay Area Students Traveling to Nation’s Capital Students and teachers from two Virginia high schools will be in Washington, DC, on April 23, to make presentations on their efforts to improve water quality in streams, rivers and lakes in their communities. Students from St. Paul High School in Wise County and the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School for Marine and Environmental Science have been invited to discuss their results at a federal interagency service-learning and environmental-education forum at the Corporation for National and Community Service. They also have been invited to share information about their environmental projects during the Earth Week celebration on the National Mall April 24. Both schools received three-year "Learn and Serve" grants from the Virginia Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006 for projects designed to integrate Standards of Learning-based instruction with meaningful community services related to watershed stewardship. The students used knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom to conduct biological, chemical and physical analyses of water bodies to identify water quality threats and improve stream health. Beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, Wise County’s St. Paul High School students will describe their work to create an Appalachian wetlands preserve, an interpretive walking trail and a community environmental education center with support of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several private companies. Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School students will discuss their experiences with water quality monitoring, oyster reef restoration, tree planting and environmental education opportunities for local elementary and middle school children. Their project partners included the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Friends of Dragon Run, Virginia Oyster Reef Keepers Foundation, Urbanna Oyster Festival Foundation, Belle Isle State Park, Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and 14 Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck counties.
March 31,2010 - Team Estonoa Invite to Washington DC Learn and Serve America extended an invitation to representatives of Team Estonoa to join them on April 23, 2010, in Washington for their interagency forum on service-learning and environmental education. The event will be held at the Corporation for National and Community Service, 1201 New York Avenue NW, Washington DC, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.
Scott Richardson, K12 Program Coordinator of Learn and Serve/Federal Dept. of Education, has invited staff from other agencies that promote and fund environmental education such as EPA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation. Non-governmental leaders in the field are invited as well from organizations such as the National Environmental Education Foundation and Project Learning Tree. The aim of the meeting is to illustrate how schools can use resources from numerous federal agencies to provide environmental service-learning opportunities to their students. Team Estonoa will present how the team, school, community, and the environment have been affected by service-learning projects. Members of Team Estonoa will also share information about our on-going environmental projects at the April 24, 2010 public celebration of Earth Week on the National Mall, hosted by the EPA.  Mr. & Mrs. Vencil, Taylor Stanley, Skyler Campbell, Kaeleb Gibson, Mrs. Wade, Chloe Parsell & Ashley Slate will travel to Washington DC to present Wetlands Estonoa programs and projects to several National, State and Local agencies/organizations.  
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