Small Business Owner Honor Muralt Recently Completed the NC Environmental Education Certification

Honor Muralt, an educational business owner, recently completed the NC Environmental Education Certification. Honor recently started a business called Educational Adventures and hopes the certification will enhance her programming. Honor designs curriculum aligned with the state's education standards for public and private schools. Her 15 years of experience as an art literacy teacher and her experience as a vocalist means that her lesson includes art and music as ways to teach educational concepts, hands-on science activities, art and create interactive presentations. When she isn’t creating fun educational experiences, Honor enjoys going on hikes in nature.

Honor says her favorite part of earning her certification was connecting with people and nature. “I loved exploring the coastal, piedmont and mountain regions of North Carolina, and I learned a lot about the different organisms that live here. I enjoyed all the workshops that taught about specific animal species like bears, amphibians, raptors and mammals. I gained a lot of knowledge to share with students.

She says the certification experiences that stood out the most were the experiences with live animals. “I enjoyed Turtle Exploration Workshop at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area where I was able to see live sea, terrestrial and aquatic turtles. At Advance Wild Raptors I was able to see a Barred Owl, Mississippi Kite and Great Horned Owl. The Wild Amphibians workshop provided me with the opportunity to see NC native frogs and salamanders up-close. I love these experiences, and I am looking forward to registering for more in the future.”

For her community partnership project Honor worked with students at a local elementary school to clean up overgrown trails, the outdoor classroom space, and docks overlooking a pond. “My goal was to provide teachers with an opportunity to teach NC state standards out in nature, instead of the classroom. The project increased awareness and use of this space by teachers and students. Unfortunately, the closing of schools due to COVID-19 has halted the use at this point. My hope is that the outdoor space will continue to become more popular with teachers, and they will use this amazing opportunity to continue to connect students to nature.”

Honor says participating in the certification program changed her approach to teaching. “Participating in the EE Certification process helped me to recognize the importance of adding more inquiry and collaboration time for students, so I have adjusted my lessons to allow time for appropriate grade level discussions to occur. The Five E's Instructional Model taught at the Methods of Teaching Environmental Education workshop taught me great strategies to direct my teaching time. I have become a lot better at assessing student’s knowledge by asking more questions.”

The program also increased Honor’s awareness of environmental issues. “I learned about the affect light pollution has on sea turtle hatchlings, sound pollution has on animals, soil contamination that invades our water supply, and littering that endangers the health of birds. I have learned a great deal of information attending the environmental education workshops, and I share this information with my children, family members, friends, teachers, and students.”