Environmental group honors Hampden man

HAMPDEN – Joshua Atwood of Hampden recently received the Public Educator Award from the New England Water Environment Association.

The award acknowledges those in New England who warrant merit for their contributions and service to the public education goals of the association. It is given to an individual or group who has helped NEWEA achieve its objective of promoting clean water and increasing public awareness of and action in water pollution control.

Atwood is the author of “The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon,” a book he wrote in the summer of 2003 while serving as an intern for the Maine Coastal Program at the State Planning Office in Augusta.

The book is an illustrated storybook for children, using a charming animal story to teach kids about watershed ecology. It recounts the journey of a young loon named Linus from his home in a North Woods lake to the ocean. As the journey unfolds, Linus learns about the various ecosystems he travels through.

While Linus Loon is presented as a colorful storybook, there is no mistaking the educational emphasis. Each chapter introduces a series of ecological terms and concepts that build on previous chapters. A list of questions and vocabulary words follows each chapter to help reinforce the lessons. The book ends by asking the reader to define a list of vocabulary words, then presents a series of questions to help the reader make connections among concepts and apply them to everyday experiences.

An Educator Handbook was also developed to assist in the integration of “The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon” into existing classroom curricula. The Educator Handbook addresses performance indicators in four sections of the State of Maine Learning Results: English arts, science and technology, social studies and mathematics.

Atwood received the award at NEWEA’s annual conference last month in Boston. NEWEA, the region’s largest organization of water pollution control professionals, has been working to protect and improve the area’s water environment for over 75 years.

The association directs and promotes the research, development and application of more advanced and effective water pollution control practices and technologies to protect water resources, safeguard public health and preserve environmental quality. NEWEA is a member association of the Water Environment Federation, a leading international organization dedicated to preserving the global water environment.

For information on NEWEA, call (781) 939-0908 or e-mail mail@newea.org.

“The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon” is available to educators in hard copy free, and also may be downloaded at www.maine.gov/spo/mcp/resources/linus/index.php, where visitors also will find downloadable versions of the Educator and Student Handbooks. To request a hard-copy version of the book, call the Maine Coastal Program at 287-1486.