In partnership with the Town of Purcellville and Loudoun Valley High School, PEC initiated an innovative model for environmental education in 2004. The highly successful program fosters watershed stewardship by empowering students to improve local water quality and wetland habitats.

Students enrolled in the school's Environmental Explorations classes conduct hands-on field work in the nearby Suzanne R. Kane Nature Preserve, which follows the floodplain of Catoctin Creek. Situated between two industrial parks, the 23-acre preserve receives severe stormwater runoff from both sites.

The effluent contributes to pollution, sedimentation, and erosion of the stream, which ultimately drains into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. With support from a series of state and federal grants, students have planted more than 1,600 saplings in the preserve to filter stormwater and stabilize stream banks.

By monitoring water quality along with plant and animal populations, students gain first-hand knowledge about the effectiveness of their efforts. Students share their findings with the public through an annual presentation to the Purcellville Town Council and a public exhibition of their work.

PEC's long-term goal is to foster similar projects at schools throughout Loudoun County to enhance community understanding of water quality, land use issues, and watershed management.