Lindsey McEvoy- December Go Green Student of the Month

Lindsey McEvoy
Grade 12- Wayne Technical and Career Center
December 2010 Go Green Student of the Month

Lindsey was clearly the right choice for the Student of the Month honor after her teachers told us how committed she has been to her local conservation efforts and studies in the Power Mechanics/Conservation program. The nomination listed the many ways that Lyndsey has demonstrated an ability to better her grades, participate in extracurricular sports and activities, AND identify new ways she can contribute to bettering the environment. Below, Lindsey details a conservation project she created and the amazing results it produced. Congratulations, Lindsey!


Our Finger Lakes area is known for its natural beauty. Growing up in Wayne County, my parents and their friends made sure that we were outside a lot as children, so we learned to enjoy nature.  Part of the meaning of sustainability to me is making sure the next generation of kids has the same opportunities I did when growing up. Conservation doesn’t just happen.
This fall, my second year in the Wayne Technical and Career Center’s Power Mechanics/ Conservation program, my teacher, Mr.Walter Robarge, and I were talking about the fact that we had too much scrap wood going to waste after we worked at job sites. The wood would either rot or be used for firewood. We decided that it would be a sustainable resource if we recycled the wood to help various wildlife by building boxes for animals including ducks, bluebirds and bats. This recycling could help sustain native species.
My first thought was the need for new wood duck boxes because I had seen old unusable ones in places throughout the Finger Lakes from Sodus Point to Canandaigua. Wood duck boxes provide a safe place for ducks to lay their eggs; therefore the population increases naturally.  
Mr.Robarge challenged me to make 100 boxes by the end of November.  I started talking with my friends at WTCC and soon my classmates and the members of the Carpentry class were helping me reach my goal. Working together we made boxes that meet the specifications of Ducks Unlimited: back (31”x 9.25”), sides and front (23.5”x 9.25”), floor (9.25”x 7.75”), roof (9.25”x 14”)and door (23.5” x 9.25”), using scrap wood from our job sites.
Then the fun started. First Mr.Robarge and his son, Anthony, helped me put out more than 20 boxes along the West River that flows into Canandaigua Lake. Our class went on a field trip to Zurich Bog, a US National Natural Landmark. We realized we could place some boxes on my grandparents’ land adjacent to the bog. Then at our school Open House we allowed people to “Adopt a Duck Box”, if they promised to set it up and take care of it. As more people heard about my project, a group from Alfred  State asked for boxes to put up on the south end of Conesus Lake.  There will be places for as many wood duck boxes as my classmates and I can make.  
Conservation is a continuous process that takes a lot of people working together. I learned more about working as a team, and it just feels great to know so many other students also do care about making our natural environment green for animals as well as people.   I hope to attend Finger Lakes Community College and major in Conservation.  Then I would have future classmates to help me care for the wood duck boxes in the Canandaigua area. If properly cared for, these boxes can ensure a wood duck population for the next generation to enjoy.

-Lindsey McEvoy