Bisson awarded PCSWCD Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year honor

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Every year, the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District presents an outstanding conservation achievement award to either a cooperator (farmer, forester, landowner) or educator in Piscataquis County. The award honors an individual or entity who has worked to promote or carry out significant conservation efforts in our county. In 2021, we are awarding an educator and PCSWCD’s Board of Supervisors and staff have selected Elizabeth Bisson, pre-kindergarten teacher at SeDoMoCha Elementary School to receive the Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year award.

2021 marked Bisson’s 16th year teaching at SeDoMoCha. She started her career as a special education teacher and after four years, moved into a position teaching pre-kindergarten. Bisson grew up in Monson and attended Monson Elementary, SeDoMoCha Middle School and Foxcroft Academy. After graduating from UMaine-Farmington with her teaching degree, she came back to live, work and raise a family in Dover-Foxcroft. 

Those that know Bisson as an educator, know what a gift she is to her students. Being the pre-kindergarten teacher at SeDoMoCha, she teaches morning and afternoon sessions and reaches many kids on their way to kindergarten. She is patient, kind and has a passion for providing interesting, practical opportunities to her students to allow them to better understand and make connections with where they live.

Piscataquis County is rich in natural resources, so much of her explorations are centered around teaching her students to truly understand their natural world. COVID-19 colored much of the school year, some could argue quite negatively, but Bisson saw the changes and disruptions as an opportunity to completely rework her curriculum and do as much learning outdoors as possible. Outdoors, her students could learn basic curriculum, move their bodies, but also do some deep dives into learning about their environment and their home. She and her students spend much of their school day outdoors and she was able to watch her students grow in many positive ways. 

Bisson connected with PCSWCD’s Educational Coordinator Kacey Weber at the end of the 2019-20 school year with the goal to provide outdoor education together once a month for the entire 2020-21 school year. Together, we have introduced the students to snowshoeing, explored the Dot Warren Nature Trail on foot and snowshoes, found and identified Maine wildlife tracks, learned about soil and soil health, explored watersheds and nonpoint source pollution, planted flowers for community pollinator gardens and to celebrate the end of the year, we will venture to the Law Farm to plant flowers, enjoy a nature-based story walk and see what we can identify for native trees. Sure there were bumps in the road, but our goal of getting the kids learning outdoors was accomplished and then some. 

Bisson shared that she “kept the conversations about soil, wildlife and water going throughout the school year and as the students progressed, she saw them really start to make the connections. One student noticed a patch of ground near the playground without much vegetation growing on it and made a comment that there the soil isn’t as healthy and perhaps it needed something to help grow plants.” At age 4 and 5, making these observations about the world around them and understanding the complex science of soil health is amazing!

Bisson also shared that her teaching philosophy is “let the students get outside, climb, play and get dirty, their academics they need will develop along the way.” The students’ attitudes about exploring nature are impressive and Bisson sets the tone for that. She encourages her students to enjoy the outdoors in many different ways and fosters that love for our natural world. It is widely accepted that if you foster a love for the outdoors with children, that love fuels future conservation stewardship and a deep understanding of how people can positively impact our natural environment. 

If you have had the pleasure of working with Bisson or being a parent of a child who has had her, you can see the passion for her students and providing them with opportunities to learn about our natural environment. She is beyond deserving of this award and the perfect candidate to receive it. The PCSWCD has enjoyed working with her and look forward to continuing the partnership for years to come. 

Congratulations to Elizabeth Bisson of SeDoMoCha Elementary School for being named the 2021 Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year. PCSWCD staff and board members will honor Bisson at an outdoor school ceremony at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25.