The Sioux County Conservation Board has received an award for a mural project involving Sioux County schools. The Iowa Association of Naturalists (IAN) and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition (ICEC) have awarded SCCB the Chris Holt Youth Environmental Education Award for outstanding environmental education programs for youth or conducted by youth, aged preschool to grade 12. The awards are made annually to recognize incredible contributions to the advancement of environmental literacy in Iowa.
The Prairie Woods Nature Center Mural Project is a partnership between the Sioux County Schools and Sioux County Conservation, with partial funding through the Sioux County Conservation Foundation. Each Sioux County classroom, grades K-2, are invited to participate in the project which is displayed in the entrance of the Prairie Woods Nature Center at Oak Grove Park. Each classroom that chooses to participate, gets square cardstock tiles and strips of colored paper. The students are asked to use the numbers on the tiles and glue the corresponding colored paper to the tile design. The conservation staff then adds the finished tiles to the 15 foot mural and visitors get to see the different stages of completion as the tiles arrive. The mural picture is a secret until all tiles are returned by the end of the school year and remains in the entryway until the new mural tiles start to come in the following year. The 2022 mural design was digitally created by Sioux County Naturalist, Sarah Davelaar.
