11th Annual Meeting Brings Formal and Informal Educators Together

The NC Department of Environmental Quality and the NC Department of Public Instruction’s Science Section will co-host the 11th Annual Nonformal Educators’ Meeting on December 9. Last year, the virtual meeting attracted more than 140 educators in all regions of the state and this year’s meeting promises to reach even more educators.

Each year in December, the two departments bring the nonformal education community together to talk about ways they can partner with classroom teachers in North Carolina. This unique collaboration supports nonformal educators who provide environmental science to school-age children and encourages collaboration between schools, school districts, NCDPI, and the nonformal education community to support science learning and environmental literacy.

The meeting also provides an opportunity for educators to get updates on curriculum standards from NCDPI and resources to help align their educational programs and field trips with the state’s essential standards for science. 

Most of this year’s discussion will focus on how nonformal educators can partner with schools to create outdoor classrooms and other learning spaces on schoolgrounds. Several teachers will highlight ways they have partnered with nonformal educators and organizations to develop creative outdoor learning opportunities for their students. In addition to these models, there will be a session featuring programs that come to the school to help develop wildlife habitats, encourage students to participate in citizen science, and provide resources on how to use the outdoors to teach the required standards in not only science but across disciplines. 

The meeting will feature a panel discussion with teachers and a principal to learn on how nonformal programs can best meet the current needs of classroom teachers while increasing environmental literacy and knowledge of North Carolina’s diverse ecology and natural resources. 

This partnership between the state’s education agency and the state’s environmental agency is unique to North Carolina. It was highlighted in the National Science Teachers Association’s online journal, Connected Science Learning in the May-July 2017 edition (Volume 1, Issue 3). You can read the article entitled Collaboration + Good Coffee = Connected Science Learning Success: State Agencies Partner to Unite Formal and Informal Educators in North Carolina online at this link.