NC DEQ Secretary Regan Hosts Conversations with Environmental Educators for Earth Day's 50th

We are in a time of stay-at-home orders and remote working, but North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan still found a way to interview certified environmental educators for a series commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.

These online visits with three recently certified educators recognize the work of environmental educators across the state and raise awareness of the certification program, which is administered by the North Carolina Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs within the department.

Secretary Regan asks Libbie Dobbs-Alexander, ecoEXPLORE Coordinator at the North Carolina Arboretum, how the EE Certification Program helped her career and provided service to her community and beyond.

Ballentine Elementary Academic Enrichment Teacher Kathy Wall tells Secretary Regan why she as a classroom teacher pursued environmental education certification and how it has helped her leverage programs and resources, like Shad in the Classroom.

DEQ Secretary Michael S Regan congratulates Michael Romano of Greensboro Parks and Recreation for completing the NC Environmental Educator Certification program and they discuss his work and community project.

In addition to these videos, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Earth Day page features essays from environmental educators and leaders in our state. I hope you will take a moment to celebrate Earth Day with these inspiring words from environmental educators and leaders in North Carolina: https://deq.nc.gov/outreach-education/earth-day-2020

For Earth Day 50 - Climate Change Professional Development From PLT, Project WET and the National Wildlife Federation

Available for a limited time on the North American Association for Environmental Education eePRO! 

Project Wet, Project Wild, and NWF have co-created a free, self-paced virtual course focused on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife. Upon completion of the course, participants receive free lessons from Project Wet and Project Wild as well as other teaching materials. The workshop is free and grants a 3-hour credit certificate upon completion.


In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and in light of the COVID-19 social distancing and stay-at-home directives, the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs is accepting this workshop for Criteria I credit for those enrolled in the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification Program. It can still be used as Continuing Education and Criteria III credit as well, if needed. Don't delay, the workshop ends on June 1, 2020.

Register:
 https://naaee.org/eepro/learning/online-courses/earth-day-50-climate-change-professional

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in NC

Right now, all North Carolinians are concerned about health, safety and economic well-being as we weather the challenges of the current state of emergency.

Many of our celebrations and activities in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day have been canceled, so the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs has decided to celebrate our state’s environmental educators online. We plan to highlight educators and the nature we can find in our own backyard throughout the month of April and on Earth Day, April 22.

Leading up to Earth Day, we will be encouraging educators, parents, caregivers and students to post photos of their backyard nature using common hashtags and mentioning @northcarolinaee in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram posts. We also encourage you to do a shout out to your favorite environmental educators and teachers in North Carolina.

We hope this will encourage everyone who is able to get outdoors and it will allow us to come together online as a community to celebrate the incredible natural resources and environmental educators in North Carolina. In your outdoor adventures, we encourage you to maintain safe practices, social distancing and to follow all state and local COVID-19 directives.

When posting to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, please use the following hashtags: #NCEarthDay50, #NCBackyardNature and #NCEnviroEducators and feel free to use the image above.

Please join us in recognizing the educators and natural resources that make our state so unique.