Educator Spotlight: Stacy Darwin

Stacy Darwin, a public school librarian with Abbotts Creek Elementary School in Wake County, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. “I have been a librarian for the last 14 years and in my spare time I love to travel, hike, and explore countless hobbies. I have two young adult children that also keep me busy and active.”

Stacy went through the program with a cohort of public school librarians. "Krista Brinchek, a science teacher at our school, had the genius idea of creating and supporting a cohort of school librarians. We call it L.E.E.F. - Librarians as Environmental Education Facilitators. This original cohort has elementary, middle, and high school represented through myself, Erica Flory, Evelyn Bussell, and Tammy Weller. As librarians, we are the curators and collaborators of all things curriculum. Combining wonder, curiosity, and critical thinking is the backbone of what we do every day. We reach a significant number of students in our unique positions while also supporting teachers with resources. We can also work with administrators to provide additional professional development for teachers on how environmental education can support the new science standards. The cohort has been a wonderful way for us to network and see the connections from kindergarten through 12th grade. I value the friendships I have made with these inspirational women."

When asked about her favorite part of the certification program, Stacy says it was learning about NC’s environment. “I'm a native Texan and taught in Tucson, Arizona, for four years. I was having a difficult time gaining the amount of knowledge I had about those environments here in North Carolina. I love being able to share fun facts with students, family and friends. This experience has made me more aware of the uniqueness of our state and how I can play a role in protecting it.”

Stacy says the experience in the program that stood out to her was the “Got Elk?” program. “I learned so much at the workshop, and I really pushed myself to experience more than I would have on my own. I had no idea I would become so excited about snails and lichen while also observing the beautiful elk!”

For her community partnership project, Stacy worked with a fellow certification candidate, Jen Muttillo, to research, write and record eBooks for first grade students so they could access age-appropriate nonfiction material about the plants of North Carolina. “I have witnessed our students use these books during research for past two springs and it is encouraging to see students empowered to interact with text that is on their levels. I also got wonderful feedback from our first-grade team.”

When asked if the program led to changes in her approach to teaching, Stacy said it made her more comfortable teaching outdoors. “I enjoyed outdoor learning being modeled by so many different instructors. I eased my fears in taking students outside to learn and has really encouraged me to share information with other teachers!”