Rebekah Wofford, Educator at Blue Jay County Park in Raleigh Completes Her NC Environmental Education Certification

Rebekah Wofford, an educator at Blue Jay Point County Park in Raleigh has completed the NC Environmental Education Certification Program. Rebekah began working as an educator at Blue Jay Point County Park in 2021 and says she discovered her love of environmental education in the outdoors through her former positions at Durant and Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserves. She is a self-confessed huge herp and bird nerd and on her days off, you can often find her birding alone or with friends. She enjoys engaging with people of all ages to answer their questions and grow their interest in the natural world.

Rebekah says her favorite part of the program was meeting other environmental educators and learning from them. “I met many of my current and former coworkers and made many friends at educator workshops. I was also lucky enough to use some of the classes as excuses to travel across the state! Attending a frog call class in Wilmington and a feral hog class at Great Smoky Mountains were great ways to learn about species in other parts of the state.”

When asked what experience stands out for her, Rebekah says there are several. “The Certified Interpretive Guide course, which I took at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, was a great experience because it was a longer class with the same people. Over the four-day course, I was able to form relationships with some of the participants, who I still keep up with two years later! Also, a beginner birding course I took occurred around the same time I became seriously interested and excited about birding, one of my biggest hobbies now!”

For her community partnership project, Rebekah built an outdoor box turtle enclosure at Durant Nature Preserve. “It is built along the accessible trail outside the future office, so it is a location that many patrons will visit. The community will have an opportunity to see the rescued box turtle outdoors and to learn more about box turtles in general.” Her project also supports the efforts of staff at Durant Nature Preserve to contribute to the Box Turtle Connection, a state-level initiative of the Box Turtle Collaborative, which aims to improve public understanding of and collect scientific data on populations of Eastern box turtles found in North Carolina.

When asked if the program changed her approach to teaching, Rebekah says it opened her eyes to many new ways to teach. “I became more comfortable with silliness in teaching materials to younger kids. I was also able to diversify ways to get material across and keep participants engaged especially during the pandemic. Some methods that I learned in the 2020 EENC (Environmental Educators of North Carolina) conference really helped my virtual programming skills.”

Melissa Kennedy, Land and Water Access Specialist at the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Completes NC Environmental Education Certification

Melissa assists with coordinating the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) land acquisition process by working with WRC field staff, external partners, and the State Property Office. She also helps write and manage land acquisition grants. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring trails and waterways across the state.

When asked about her favorite part of the certification program, Melissa says it was developing new personal and professional relationships. “I met so many people who are passionate about conservation and environmental education through this program. I particularly enjoyed seeing the same people at different workshops; it created a sense of community and camaraderie. It also exposed me to resources I didn't know about and provided professional contacts for future collaborations.”

Melissa says there were many experiences that she wouldn’t have had without the certification program, but one that stands out: the two-day NC Aquatic Data Hub stream monitoring workshop. “I learned so much about aquatic invertebrates and water quality which helped me understand our waterways better while giving me more context to teach water quality programs. One of my favorite programs to teach was a stream studies program because many kids would start out not wanting to get wet or they would be intimidated by looking for invertebrates, but by the end they wouldn't want to leave the stream. I felt that program was a great intro into bigger picture ideas, was engaging, and was highly educational. The NC Aquatic Data Hub workshop provided me with personal knowledge that helped me teach stream studies better.”

For her community partnership project, Melissa partnered with Duke Gardens and worked with Kavanah Anderson and Kati Henderson to create a virtual "bingo sheet" of activities that could be done outside anywhere and encourages all ages to participate. “The goal was to have accessible self-guided activities to engage a variety of audiences. We launched the activity in conjunction with the Triangle Learning Days festival. The activities are now available on Duke garden's website for anyone and can be used on- site to explore the garden. Our hope is that the community in Durham/the Triangle area would feel empowered to explore the nature right outside their homes and would in turn feel more connected to it and seek to make changes to protect it.”

Melissa says the certification program changed her approach to teaching in many ways. “I was an inexperienced educator when I began the program. Taking the workshops, especially any of the WRC’s Advanced Wild workshops, increased my knowledge of North Carolina ecology which made me more confident in my ability to convey that information accurately. The certification gave me many fun activity ideas which I implemented across all age groups. Working with others and hearing their perspectives and advice provided me with new tools for handling groups and challenging situations. I am now a much more confident and effective educator because of the certification program!”

Melissa says the program changed the way she viewed environmental issues. “Prior to the certification I knew that I cared about environmental issues and that education was an effective tool for teaching others to care, but I didn't see how connected those issues were to so many facets of everyday life. I also didn't understand as much about environmental justice and the implications of environmental issues for people of color. The classes, activities, and especially talking with other educators showed me just how far-reaching environmental issues can be.”

Denise Renfro, a High School Teacher in Fayetteville NC Wins Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Education

The US Environmental Protection Agency recently announced its 2021 President’s Student and Teacher Environmental Awards winners. Among the winners was Denise Renfro, a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher and director of the Academy of Green Technology at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Denise was one of two teachers awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) for Region 4, which includes North Carolina. 

The Academy of Green Technology (AoGT) prepares high school students to have the technical and collaborative skills needed to lead the emerging green and global economy through interdisciplinary learning experiences in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and there is no doubt that Renfro has contributed to the success of this program and of her students 

Renfro is a CTE teacher who is successfully using energy and the environment as a unifying theme to engage and ultimately prepare her students for careers as STEM professionals to tackle challenges such as climate change and the transition to a low carbon energy system. Renfro believes in teaching through authentic investigations using technologies that her students not only learn about in the classroom but apply in real life. This experiential and place-based approach is not only effective at promoting student learning but fun for students. Whether her students are launching seeds on a weather balloon into the stratosphere, flying drones to assess vegetation, or teaching younger students about solar energy and conservation using an off-grid solar trailer, they are engaged and having fun.

“I have spent my entire career as an educator engaging students either outdoors or in a lab physically doing things, and if this unique mixture of educational pursuits has taught me anything, it is that students learn best and enjoy learning most by actually doing things, and preferably doing them outdoors. They learn even more by applying what they learn in new and unique environments, and those benefits seem to multiply exponentially when their applications are in service to others. They gain much-needed leadership and confidence, and they make connections to others in the wider community,” says Renfro.

The school is in an underserved, minority community that struggles with academic progress, poor graduation rates, food insecurity, and other challenges. With many students lacking extracurricular STEM opportunities, confidence with technology, and/or leadership opportunities, her approach to engaging students is likely contributing to AoGT’s success, with a graduation rate of 100% through the 2019/2020 academic year and student college enrollment at 70%.

Renfro has applied for more than $400,000 in grants during her career, almost all related to energy and environmental studies to get supplies into the hands of her students and to support her own professional development which brings more authentic learning opportunities into the classroom. In 2020, she received a Fund for Teachers Fellowship grant and will be going to Canada and Iceland to study energy generation and electric grid resiliency in the summer of 2022. She is a proud NC Energy Literacy Fellow, a teacher professional development program based out of UNC’s Institute for the Environment that provides a comprehensive approach to teaching energy-related content in the classroom modeled around experiential, place-based, and project-based classroom strategies. Renfro has emerged as a teacher leader in the NC Energy Literacy Fellows community and, most recently has been part of a teacher-led working group to develop a lesson on energy justice that she will deliver to students this fall.

“Denise is a highly motivated CTE teacher who uses STEM to engage her students in learning about current energy and environmental issues using technologies to monitor and solve relevant problems. I think her marrying of CTE content with environmental education made her a unique applicant for this award and I am thrilled to see her recognized by the environmental education community,” says Dana Haine, Director of the NC Energy Literacy Fellows Program, who has known Renfro for more than a decade. “It is exciting to have an NC Energy Literacy Fellow recognized for her work to engage diverse youth in learning about today’s environmental challenges.”

In a virtual ceremony, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory recognized the awardees. “This past school year has been one of the most challenging for our nation, yet students and teachers across the country remained dedicated to tackling the most pressing environmental challenges we face – from climate change to environmental justice,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I’m so proud of the remarkable youth and educators we’re honoring today, and their work to make a difference in their communities. By working hand in hand, we can create a more sustainable, more equitable world.”

Read the full EPA News Release
Read more about Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) 2021 Winners

Jason Vanzant, Carteret County Teacher and NC Certified Environmental Educator Wins Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators

 

The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced its 2021 President’s Student and Teacher Environmental Awards winners. Jason Vanzant, a teacher at Bogue Sound Elementary School in Newport, was one of two North Carolina teachers awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) for Region 4. 

In a virtual ceremony, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory recognized the awardees. “This past school year has been one of the most challenging for our nation, yet students and teachers across the country remained dedicated to tackling the most pressing environmental challenges we face – from climate change to environmental justice,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I’m so proud of the remarkable youth and educators we’re honoring today, and their work to make a difference in their communities. By working hand in hand, we can create a more sustainable, more equitable world.”

Jason Vanzant, also known by his students as “Mr. Vantaztic” is an elementary STEM teacher and Instructional Technology Facilitator at Bogue Sound Elementary in Carteret County. "Through his passion for the environment, Mr. Vanzant sparks student wonder, learning, and achievement! As a result of his interdisciplinary, hands-on, research- and place-based approaches to environmental education, the school district has seen dramatic shifts in academic achievement and interest in STEM classes and activities."

Vanzant is a Certified North Carolina Environmental Educator through the state program administered by the NC Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs and has been widely recognized for his efforts to create a STEM lab at his school. 

He has also developed strong partnerships in the community to support STEM learning at Bogue Sound Elementary. The EPA News Release notes that Vanzant's "efforts have helped Bogue Sounds Elementary School be designated as a NOAA Ocean Guardian School, the only school in its county designated as such. With NOAA approval and funding, Mr. Vanzant led his students to composting and debris collection projects at the school. His students presented their findings and ways to improve future efforts to the Board of Education. Mr. Vanzant regularly invites scientific professionals to share their research and passion with his students, piquing the students’ interest to consider for their own careers in the future. Mr. Vanzant has developed close ties with local environmental organizations that have afforded the students amazing opportunities at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, the Cape Lookout National Seashore Park, NOAA, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, the Pine Knolls Shore Aquarium, and the North Carolina Coastal Reserve. He has also fostered a partnership with the Aquaculture Department at the Carteret Community College."

Read the full EPA News Release
Read more about Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) 2021 Winners