As you may have assumed, our staff is working remotely for a few weeks as Anne Arundel County Public Schools, and by extension, our office at Arlington Echo, are closed. We have canceled all public programs and moved meetings to remote platforms for as long as the schools are closed and the state of emergency, with social distancing requirements, is in effect. This situation is so fluid that we are not making any predictions or plans for the near future, as we wait to see how things will unfold. For the latest on upcoming programs, please visit our website aawsa.org.
In spite of our office closures, our staff is working. As usual, the WSA “office” is a buzz with activity. Josh and Alyssa are working on the finer details of Replant Anne Arundel including the application process for communities to receive trees and educational content for Tree Troopers to use in their communities. They are also advancing several exciting community-based projects that are set to break ground in just a few weeks.
Noelle is busy planning online content for future classes, as well as keeping tabs on the 30 Stewards in Class 12 as they plan their capstone projects. Believe it or not, it is also time to start planning for next year’s Master Watershed Steward Certification Course!
Haley is wrapping up her last week of work for WSA before she transitions on to an exciting new job! She’s busy passing on her knowledge to Nan Henry who is stepping in to support Steward outreach and organize environmental literacy resources this Spring. She’s also digging into the WSA project database so the Monitoring Action Group can check on past projects later this Spring. Each year, the Stewards of the Monitoring Action Group visit WSA projects that are over three years old to assess their condition and provide maintenance or repair guidance to project owners.
Katie is writing grants, planning fundraising efforts, creating social media content and organizing our e-communications.
Trish is writing a human resources manual, updating our financial policies, cleaning our database and reconciling financial statements.
And me? I am excited to finalize our strategic plan. The WSA Board made some big decisions about new strategic directions last week, and next week the Strategic Planning Committee will finalize the draft plan. Between now and then, my job is to put together all of the pieces, draft progress indicators and metrics, and figure out how we are going to pay for all the exciting new work! I am so grateful for the excellent leadership of our consultant, Due East Partners.
If you would like to connect with any WSA Staff, please don’t hesitate to send us an email:
Suzanne Etgen, Executive Director: setgen@aacps.org
Noelle Chao, Program Coordinator: nchao@aacps.org
Josh Clark, Restoration Coordinator: jyetterclark@aacps.org
Katie Foster, Development and Communications Coordinator: kefoster@aacps.org
Alyssa Brummitt, Restoration Technician: cont-abrummitt@aacps.org
Haley Denton, Outreach Coordinator: cont-hdenton@aacps.org
Trish Hennessy-Webb, Systems Administrator: thennessy-webb@aacps.org
Nan Henry, Interim Outreach Coordinator: nhenry@aacps.org
