Page 57 - TTA Newsletter Spring Summer 2018

~Southern Maryland Chapter~

Southern Maryland Chapter Top Teens of America Receives Community Engagement Grant – Top Teens for
Clean Streams (TTA4CS)

The Southern Maryland Chapter of Top Teens of America was awarded a community engagement grant by the Chesapeake
Bay Trust Fund in November 2017, with the specific purpose of engaging youth of color in stream monitoring and in
educating them about stream health, local watersheds and pollution. The Top Teens of America 4 Clean Streams
(TTA4CS) Project was executed through the members of the Southern Maryland Chapter of Top Teens of America (TTA)
organization, under the leadership of the Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. organization. Top Teens of America provides
opportunities for teens, regardless of their ethnic or socio-economic status, the opportunity to receive extra-curricular support,
career and character development training, leadership, along with key community volunteer opportunities.

The grant allowed the Teens to serve residents of color in the southern Prince George’s
County and Charles County area. The goals of the grants were to:

Goal 1: Educate Youth in Southern Maryland Chapter of TTA and the community about stream monitoring,
pollution and water quality.
Goal 2: Develop products that could be used year-round to promote keeping the Chesapeake clean.
Goal 3: Empower youth to share the information learned with others with a sense of pride.

The Teens educated youth and residents in Prince George’s County and Charles Counties about the environment, storm water
management, and to assess water quality in Old Woman’s Run stream. The Teens kicked-off the project on November 4, 2017,
at the Waldorf West Library, in Waldorf, Maryland, where the Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. and the Top Teens of America
hosted a public information session about the need to keep the Chesapeake Bay clean and to give the public information about
its health. The event also featured an environmental educator who provided information on the Chesapeake Bay watershed,
pollution and pollution prevention, macroinvertebrates, water quality experimentation, rain barrels and gardens, and the impact
the community plays in the overall health of the environment. At that meeting, the Teens invited the community to participate
in water sampling at no cost in January 2018.

The Teens successfully conducted water sampling of the Old Woman’s Run stream and presented the results to the Community
in a forum at the Piedmont Library in Indian Head, Maryland.

The results will be posted on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Student Stream Health Data: http://
maryland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c45c88bddb2 4fd0a656033315ab5acc website. Results of the
study have also been forwarded to Charles and Prince George’s County. The Top Teens will also presented the video of
findings at its 4th Annual Leadership and Community Outreach Forum on March 17, 2018, to teenagers from around the
District of Columbia (DC), Maryland and Virginia (DMV).

The TTA4CS Project was selected by the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund as one they will feature over the next couple of months
because of its results, impact and success. The Teens will also present their results to the Maryland General Assembly in May
2018.
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