Tryon Turtle
I was just 
a regular box turtle, but now I spend my waking hours on the run in NC! I have seattled down in comfy little grotto for a winter nap, the scientists call it "hibernation". I should be up and around some time in the spring. Here are three ways to follow my travels:
2012 Environmental Educators of North Carolina Annual Awards nominations period is open. It will remain open until September 1, 2012. We have chosen to have such a long nomination period to capture teachers who have excelled during the 2011 – 2012 school year; as well as the environmental education heroes that rise up during the summer months.
Visit the EENC Annual Awards page for a description of the awards and a list of past winners.
Everyone is eligible for the following awards:
Environmental Educator of the Year
Exceptional Environmental Education Program
The following awards require the recipient to be a member of the Environmental Educators of North Carolina:
Melva Fager Okun Life Achievement
The awards will be presented on Saturday, October 27, 2012, at the EENC Annual Conference, Scouting Out EE in NC.
For more information about the awards program contact:
Keith Bamberger, 828-296-4553 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Scouting Out EE in NC
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Environmental Educators of North Carolina
Annual Conference
October 26-28, 2012
East Carolina Scout Reservation
Blounts Creek, NC
Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC) is the professional association for environmental educators that promotes professional development opportunities to help create an environmentally literate citizenry and facilitate networking opportunities.
We are looking for engaging presentations that inspire and educate natural resource professionals, environmental educators, and classroom teachers during our upcoming conference.
There will be three ways to share your information with participants during the conference: full day workshop, one-hour concurrent session, or roundtable presentation. All selected presenters will be required to register for the conference. Full day workshops will take place on
Friday. Concurrent sessions and roundtables will be on Saturday. Proposals will be reviewed for originality, quality, and alignment with chosen strand(s).
Preference will be given to presentations that actively engage all audience members and are experiential. Presenters will be responsible for any copies and materials they need to provide for participants. There will be no access to the Internet for any presentations and no access to a copy machine on-site.
Proposals must be submitted via the online submission form by May 25, 2012. Selected presenters will be notified by July 15, 2012. Lead presenters are responsible for communicating proposal information with co-presenters.
To submit your session proposal, please visit:
https://iyha.wufoo.com/forms/
Session proposals should fall under one of the following strands:
Diverse Audiences in EE
As environmental educators, we know the benefits of being outside in natural environments, and how communities can rally around issues centering around environmental problems. As practitioners, how do we promote EE and sustainable living practices in areas with diverse cultural audiences, to socioeconomically disadvantaged populations or in communities with little access to safe outdoor spaces? Programs that incorporate environmental/sustainability education or leverage non-traditional partnerships to tackle key social and community issues such as obesity, limited employment opportunities, poverty, exposure to toxins, environmental justice, or teaching practices such as critical pedagogy and multicultural education should be highlighted in this strand.
Connecting Experiential Education and Environmental Education
Experiential education programs excel at developing a learner’s self-esteem and confidence while building a strong group dynamic. Many of these programs use the natural environment as the learning laboratory for their teamwork and group problem-solving skills and often include exciting outdoor adventures like backpacking, kayaking, or rock climbing. The intensity of these programs engage the learner’s interest, especially for adolescents, and develop leadership potential and teamwork skills. Current environmental challenges, and those in the future, will require the interpersonal and social skills developed in experiential education programs. How can we ensure that experiential education programs include environmental education principles, leaving participants with an understanding of intricate natural systems and feeling empowered to work towards solutions for the complex challenges at hand.
EE Through Sustainable Agriculture
North Carolina’s 10% Campaign has brought the local food movement to home kitchens and restaurants across the state. School garden projects are growing in every county in the state, connecting students to their agricultural heritage while increasing knowledge about the environment, nutrition and health. Community gardens are flourishing, bringing together people of all ages to share in the work and the rewards of homegrown food. Agriculture educators and programs provide a vital link between classroom and communities. This strand will focus on using farms and gardens to teach about sustainable food production for a growing population while preserving ecological integrity, the importance of lowering our ecological footprint by connecting to local food systems, and understanding the relationship between our food, agricultural practices, personal health and a healthy environment.
Capacity Building through Research
For EE to flourish in North Carolina, research conducted around the state must be shared with EE practitioners, classroom educators, administrators, public officials, and the media. Research data supports the development and implementation of North Carolina’s Environmental Literacy Plan as well as advocacy efforts to keep EE programs funded at the state and national level. Communicating environmental education research improves existing programs and supports efforts to include EE in schools. This strand will highlight EE research based in North Carolina, create dialogue between researchers and practitioners, and provide faculty and students conducting EE research with a forum to share their results.
Rivers to the Sea – The Importance of Water Education
With over 3,000 square miles of open water, the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary is the second largest estuarine complex in the United States’ lower 48 states, and the home of our annual conference on the Pamlico River. Presentations in this strand will demonstrate the importance of water, in all forms, to our daily lives. Aquatic, estuarine, and marine environments provide an integrating context for teaching multiple concepts from a broad range of disciplines (arts and humanities, language arts, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
The date for this year's conference has been set. October 26-28, 2012
It will be held at the East Carolina Scout Reservation in Blounts Creek, NC on the shores of the beautiful Pamlico River.
Mark you calendars now and come back soon for more information.