Perkins named PCSWCD’s Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year
Each year, the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District recognizes an individual or organization whose impressive efforts and contributions make positive impacts in our county for natural resource conservation. We recognize them through an annual award, which alternates between honoring educators and land owners. This year, we are pleased to announce the award recipient for the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District’s 2025 Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year is Stephany Perkins of the Tri-County Technical Center in Dexter.
Perkins, or Steph as she prefers to be called by colleagues and students, started as an educator through the United States Peace Corps in Tanzania in 2011. There, she worked to connect youth with their local environment and foster future environmental stewardship by increasing access to the outdoors. This work started her on a pathway in education, which has included formal and informal education roles.
Over the past 10 years, Steph has served as a classroom teacher, outdoor club advisor and education coordinator for outdoor programs. 2025 was Steph’s first year teaching at TCTC as the Natural Resource Program educator. She shared with PCSWCD that after her involvement in the Piscataquis Environmental Education Collaborative’s Green Job Fair hosted at PCSWCD’s Law Farm in 2023 and 2024, she was inspired to explore starting the Nature Resource CTE program at TCTC.
Steph shared with PCSWCD Executive Director, Kacey Weber, that she “wanted to create a program that would provide an in-depth opportunity for high school students to explore natural resources right in their own communities. After working with Rural Aspirations (a PEEC member organization) to create a curriculum focused on natural resources, I jumped at the opportunity to bring this opportunity to our local youth.”
Steph has worked with the PCSWCD extensively. We collaborated on school-based and afterschool programs during her time as an educator with the Appalachian Mountain Club and through her work with TCTC. Steph has worked with youth pre-K-12th grade in Piscataquis County, and has years of experience bringing the classroom outside and connecting what students are learning in the classroom with the outdoors. All the students who have had the opportunity to work with her benefit from her energy and passion for outdoor education. She was often met with cheers from students when she entered classrooms when she worked with teachers through her role with AMC. She works tirelessly to provide every opportunity possible for her students. She is knowledgeable, inspiring and has all the qualities that make for an exceptional teacher.
In an interview for the 2025 Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year award, Steph shared that “the best part of my job is connecting youth with our beautiful state and fostering an appreciation for the place they live in and all the opportunities that exist right here. A lot of students had never really explored their own backyards and just increasing their access to the outdoors and watching them experience it in a new way has been so rewarding. For example, when myself and my students hiked Borestone Mountain this fall, 50 percent of my students had never gone hiking, 75 percent of my students had never been to Borestone and 100 percent of my students had never reached the top of Borestone. Seeing their sense of accomplishment at the peak was an amazing moment for all of us.”
Steph has big plans for her Natural Resource Program students starting fall 2025, including starting the year with an immersive forestry unit, followed by a wildlife unit in the winter focused on skins and skulls identification, animal tracks and scat, and habitat management. From there, students will learn about watersheds, water quality, aquatic native and invasive species, soil types and soil conservation. Throughout the year students will participate in agricultural activities and outdoor recreation components. Students receive certifications in chainsaw safety, hunter and bowhunting safety, ATV/snowmobile safety and wilderness first aid. They also participate in the Maine Forest Collaborative that focuses on using natural resources to positively impact local communities and they compete in the Envirothon put on by the conservation districts. Again, Steph packs opportunity after opportunity into the school year for her students and they graduate the program with a well-rounded education on natural resource conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and much more.
Steph is so deserving of this recognition. PCSWCD staff and board members want to thank her for everything she does for local youth and for natural resource conservation. We thoroughly enjoy working with Steph and are thrilled to be honoring her as our 2025 Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year! Steph will be presented with her award on May 28 at TCTC’s awards night.