The Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program recently named Kevin Smith of Keep Forsyth County Beautiful (KFCB) its 2016 “Trainer of the Year.”

This award is given to trainers who exemplify leadership and dedication to promoting the Adopt-A-Stream program’s goals towards watershed awareness and protection in local communities.

Kevin serves as KFCB’s Community Outreach Specialist, and has been a certified Adopt-A-Stream trainer for more than 10 years. In 2016 alone, Kevin taught 26 Adopt-A-Stream workshops, helping his students earn 412 certifications in Chemical, Macroinvertebrate, Bacterial and Amphibian monitoring.

On par with KFCB and Adopt-A-Stream’s goal to increase public participation, Kevin partnered with many local schools to train additional monitors. One school, First Whitlow Elementary, enlisted Kevin to work with its students to take citizen science to a whole new level. He has certified every 4th grader and 5th grader in chemical and macroinvertebrate sampling and every 2nd grader and 3rd grader in a new frog monitoring program. Kevin’s success is in part to his new hands-on and “field-before-classroom” approach to training.

Kevin’s success is driven by his love for environmental education and preservation.

“I’m very proud to tell people what I do for a living and share with them the things we do at Adopt-A-Stream and Keep Forsyth County Beautiful,” Kevin stated. “In the end, if I can share some of my passion with kids in a way that makes them enjoy science, I’m cool with it.”

Keep Forsyth County Beautiful, located in Cumming, Georgia, and Georgia’s Adopt-A-Stream are proud and honored to recognize Kevin’s work and dedication with this annual award recognition.