Educator Spotlight: Diane Mason

Congratulations to Diane Mason for completing the Environmental Education Certification program! Diane is a nonformal educator at Agape Center for Environmental Education where she leads field trips and teaches hands-on activities for all grade levels, from Kindergarten through high school.

Diane loves being outside and helping students experience "the wonders and mysteries of nature." Her favorite part of the certification process was the variety of classes offered and the opportunity to learn new teaching techniques. "I have loved all the different criteria and am so glad the program has multiple facets of learning."

For her Community Partnership project, Diane created a curriculum entitled "Monarch and Milkweed" for schools in the Triangle area including Lincoln Heights Magnet Elementary, an Environmental Connections Magnet School in Wake County. Diane's lessons centered around teaching students about Monarch butterflies and the importance of milkweed. Diane provided materials for students to plant their own milkweed plants and materials for teachers to develop pollinator gardens, along with associated lessons. "I saw an opportunity to really connect the lesson to [students] through hands-on models and the planting of seeds for milkweed plants and coneflowers. I was able to work with a variety of age groups and abilities at area schools. The feedback from the students, teachers and parents allowed me to see the positive ripple effects of the project."

Diane says that the program broadened her approach to teaching. "The two required workshops, Basics of Environmental Education and Methods of Teaching Environmental Education, challenged me to reevaluate my teaching methods. They have caused me to be more broad-minded and more adaptable in my teaching. More often now, I find myself trying to look at the lesson as a child might perceive it."

As an environmental educator, Diane believes it is important to instill a love of nature in children through these hands-on experiences. "On seeing the caterpillar and chrysalis on the milkweed for the first time, one fourth-grader kept saying, "Is this really real? I mean really, really real? Like alive and real?"