MVCTC Natural Resources Program Gains Valuable Experience at Cox Arboretum MetroPark

Senior MVCTC, Natural Resources program, visited Cox Arboretum
MetroPark’s Barbara Cox Center for Sustainable Horticulture and
worked with the Director of Five Rivers MetroParks Hardwood Reforestation
Project. Left to right -  Trinity Konwiczka (Mississinawa Valley),
Clayton Simpson (Valley View), and Devin Lanier (Carlisle).

Englewood, Ohio – The Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) senior Natural Resources program visited Cox Arboretum MetroPark’s Barbara Cox Center for Sustainable Horticulture in late October. The students worked with the director of Five Rivers MetroParks Hardwood Reforestation Project. The goal of this project is to collect seeds, germinate and cultivate Oaks, Hickory, and other native hardwood species. Five Rivers MetroParks is committed to reforestation of parklands suffering from loss of Ash trees from Emerald Ash Borer and the conversation of fields back to hardwood forests.

MVCTC students assisted MetroPark staff in cleaning Wahoo seeds and planting White Oak seeds. These seeds will be cold hardened in refrigerators at the center. The Natural Resources students will return in the spring to help transplant Oak seedlings. These trees will be planted at Carriage Hill and Medlar View MetroParks and the FRMP Wetland Mitigation Bank, reshaping our local parks to provide prime habitat for wildlife and recreational opportunities for park visitors for many years to come.

Senior Natural Resources student Wes Hoening (Northmont) stated, “It was a really cool visit. We toured the park and learned a great deal.”

Natural Resource student and current MVCTC FFA President, Trinity Konwiczka (Mississinawa Valley) added, “We split up into two groups and had some great learning experiences that included tree identification and analysis of the data we collected.”

In the MVCTC Natural Resource Management program, students will use the classroom, laboratory and outside fieldwork experiences to prepare for employment and advancement in the environmental engineering and natural resource management fields. Students develop skills working on our campus 50-acre land lab, stocked pond, 2-acre wetland, and aquaculture production facility. Students will study fisheries and wildlife management, equipment operation, and habitat restoration.

For more information on the opportunities offered at MVCTC, please visit www.mvctc.com.