sign-on letter to Obama re ee summit  

Please circulate to your networks! Forwarded message from Sarah Bodor, NCLI Coordinator, follows…email signatures of support (name, position, organization) to sbodor@cbf.org by this Friday 4/13.
Dear Friends,
As discussed on our Monday’s NCLI Conference Call, we have drafted a sign-on letter to the President regarding the White House Summit on Environmental Education scheduled for Monday April 16. The letter urges the establishment of an inter-agency Council on Environmental Literacy–a recommendation that has been made by many in the environmental community in one form or another for more than two years. Given the sudden nature of the Summit scheduling, we will seek signatures from as many organizational members of the Coalition–including yours–as possible before noon on Friday. In the face of devastating cuts to EE programs proposed in the FY2013 budget, there is perhaps a rare opportunity to nevertheless push the Administration to create a comprehensive vision for environmental education that will ultimately bolster the impact of the work we all do. Please respond to me by noon on Friday April 13 if your organization is able to sign on to this letter and feel free to share with others who may wish to support this request.

Very best wishes,
Sarah

–
Traci Price
www.traciprice.net
503.896.8755

The two day FREE training will include instruction in Project WET, WILD and Learning Tree in addition to LEP. Participants receive the four curricula with student tested, educator approved activities. You will be trained and equipped to bring the best of hands-on environmental education learning to your sphere.

To register: Contact Kathy Reeves, 605-394-2236 Kathryn.Reeves@sdstate.edu

Contact Anne Lewis at annelewis@sd-discovery.com 605-224-8295

Educators interpret a landscape as part of the January Thaw activity.

The Springfield Conservation Nature Center is hosting a public film premiere of Green Fire—the full length documentary film about Aldo Leopold on Friday, November 18, from 7-9pm. We’re calling the evening, Movie, Music, and Musings. We have a Leopold Education Project Facilitator (Curt Carter) coming from Illinois who also happens to be an accomplished musician. After the film showing, he will play a few songs (all Leopold-inspired original songs) and intersperse this with a few preselected Leopold quotes read by a few folks. Afterwards, we’ll move to the classroom for a reception (Dutch Oven desserts), maybe have more background music, possibly a short time for an open microphone for others to read their favorite quotes, and a couple of contests involving the Sand County Almanac books we’re requesting folks to bring along with them (oldest, newest, most dog-eared, most highlighted, etc).

The weekend will also include two Leopold Education Project workshops led by Curt Carter and Celeste Prussia (Missouri LEP facilitator and manager of the Missouri State University’s Bull Shoals Field Station). One workshop will be held on Friday, November 18, from 1-4pm and the second on Saturday, November 19, from 9am-12 noon.

At the beginning of the film premiere, as folks arrive (sometimes as much as 45 minutes early), we’ll have a PowerPoint presentation going that demonstrates the impact Leopold has had on a variety of folks, like yourself. We’ll see people in nature and hear or see their favorite Leopold quotes.

Feel free to pass this along to other people, and mark your calendar now for these programs. We’ll get a flier out in mid-October to help with promotion. Registration doesn’t begin until November 1.

Here is information about the programs:

Nature And The Arts: Green Fire—Movie, Music, and Musings – Friday, November 18, 7-9pm
Enjoy the Springfield premiere of the first full-length documentary film ever made about Aldo Leopold—the father of the movement for wilderness and wildlife conservation. Leopold was a forester, hunter, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast who spent his life observing, sketching, and journaling his natural surroundings. After his death in 1948, a collection of his essays was published in A Sand County Almanac—one of the most respected and beloved books about the natural world ever published. Through Leopold’s examples, the film challenges the viewer to contemplate their own relationship with nature. The evening will include Leopold-inspired original live music performed by Curt Carter, a certified facilitator with the national Leopold Education Project and half of the well-known folk duo Carter and Connelly. Musings of favorite quotes and a reception will be included in this event cosponsored by Missouri State University’s Bull Shoals Field Station. Bring your own copy of A Sand County Almanac and join us for this special evening of movie, music, and musings. Ages 12-adult. Registration begins November 1. Call 417/888-4237.

Leopold Education Project Training – Friday, November 18, 1-4pm or Saturday, November 19, 9am- 12 noon
Parents, educators (formal and non-formal), and leaders—you are invited to participate in an introductory Leopold Education Project (LEP) training presented by certified facilitators Celeste Prussia and Curt Carter. Using Leopold’s classic book, A Sand County Almanac, you will participate in a variety of hands-on outdoor explorations to help you “read the land.” These activities are designed to be shared to help others discover nature and to instill a land ethic among tomorrow’s stewards. While the class is free, required workshop materials cost $20. Please bring a check payable to Missouri State University. Dress for the outdoors. Ages 15-adult. Registration begins November 1. Call 417/888-4237.

When:Thursday, November 3 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Where: Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education (WAEE) Fall Conference
Wisconsin Lions Camp
3834 County Road A, Rosholt, WI
Cost: $30/person (additional conference fees may apply)
Sponsors: Pheasants Forever

The curriculum materials are designed for use by teachers, interpreters, naturalists, park rangers, zoo educators, youth group leaders, as well as private citizens. Each lesson, based on Leopold’s writings, provides students with direct experiences to the natural world outside the school classroom by making greater use of the outdoors as a learning laboratory. Lessons are presented in an easy to use format. Leopold’s writings are both sound science and excellent literature, making them an outstanding tool for meaningful environmental education. This curriculum encourages flexibility, creativity, and experimentation in using the lessons in a variety of subject matter areas. It uses hands-on critical thinking activities to not only teach students about nature and conservation but to instill what Leopold called a “land ethic”, an appreciation of and respect for the land.

http://www4.uwsp.edu/cnr/waee/Events/fall.aspx

Posted by the National Wildlife Federation – this could impact NCLI:

The U.S. House of Representatives recently proposed the elimination of all environmental education funding at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As Congress considers ways to balance the budget and in light of this specific proposed cut in the House, now is the time for us to tell Congress that now more than ever we must continue to educate Americans on the environmental challenges and opportunities that impact our economy, health, national security and energy independence.

The EPA’s Office of Environmental Education has supported critical environmental education initiatives in all 50 states for 20 years. It supports under-resourced programs such as professional development for teachers and funding to environmental education programs at all levels. The activities supported by the Office are also instrumental in cultivating youth, and especially young people of color, as future leaders in both the field of environmental education and a broad range of scientific professions.

We invite you to have your organization join us on this letter to Congress from national, regional, state and local organizations across the nation, asking our policy leaders on both sides of the aisle to keep investing in environmental education so our nation will continue to innovate and lead in the 21st century economy.

Sign Your Group On Today

Thursday Field Trip – meet at 6:45 am and depart at 7:00 am from the Marriott

Thursday Workshop – will be at the Rio Grande Nature Center, 2901 Candelaria Road Northwest, Albuquerque, NM 87120 505-344-7240

Thursday evening Welcome reception 7:30 pm – pool side at the Marriott Hotel: 2101 Louisiana Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

Friday and Saturday seminars and sessions 8:00 am – at the Bosque School: 4000 Learning Road NW – Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120 505-898-6388

Additional directions and maps to all locations will be included in your registration packet upon check in.