Educator Spotlight: Amy Schmitte

Amy Schmitte, the nature and events coordinator for the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) in Tryon recently completed the NC Environmental Education Certification Program. Amy provides environmental education programming for K-5 students in Polk County both at schools and on-site at FENCE. In addition to working with students, she also organizes community outreach evens and coordinates the summer camp programs. In her personal time, Amy enjoys bird watching, exploring local hiking trails, and visiting local restaurants and bakeries. 

Amy says she enjoyed all the parts of the certification program, but she especially appreciated the opportunity to travel around the state visiting Environmental Education Centers for workshops or site visits. “I was able to visit many neat facilities and places around the state that I may not have otherwise known about. The program provided great opportunities to meet like-minded individuals and to network with other people in your field.” 

When asked what experience stood out for her, Amy says it was the outdoor experiences and especially one program. “There were a lot of great experiences! I think the most memorable experiences are any of the hands-on/outdoor ones. I really enjoyed attending the Salamander Diversity and Biogeography Workshop at Highlands Biological Station. It was an educational workshop with an indoor presentation and an outdoor fieldwork portion. We were able to explore the Highlands Biological station (always a treat!) and then took a field trip to another location with a high Salamander population to work on locating and identifying salamander species.”

For her community partnership project, Amy created a sensory garden using native plants at FENCE to give new life and purpose to some unused garden beds. “I was able to partner with a local elementary school (Saluda Elementary) and their second-grade classes took a field trip to FENCE to learn about plants and animals, learn about how we can engage our senses to explore our environment, and assist in planting the gardens. The students gained a sense of ownership over the gardens, and many talked about their excitement in visiting the garden on future field trips to see how the garden has grown and changed. The garden also benefits the community both humans and animals. By incorporating many native plants into the garden, we have created a space for pollinators to visit, as well as a place for human visitors to explore, enjoy, and engage their senses.”

Amy says participating in the program gave her a wealth of knowledge on many environmental topics. 

“I feel more confident in my teaching and the program has given me the flexibility to adapt when things don't go exactly as planned. I think the biggest change would be that I am more aware of all the environmental education resources that are available to me when planning lessons and activities and how to access and use them.”

Amy says the program strengthened her views on the effectiveness of environmental education and outdoor experiences for children and adults. “I don't feel that the way I think about environmental issues has changed drastically since beginning the EE certification program but participating in the program has definitely solidified my thoughts on the importance of environmental education. I feel strongly that meaningful environmental education and meaningful outdoor experiences are key in instilling a love and care for the environment in individuals of all ages.”

Educator Spotlight: Jane Shrader

Jane Shrader, a retired teacher and volunteer librarian for a school in Pitt County, has completed the NC Environmental Education Certification. In addition to volunteering as a librarian, Jane also volunteers for the after-school program and occasionally substitute teaches for the school’s upper elementary math and science teacher. In her personal time, Jane enjoys the outdoors, hiking, and learning to bird.

Jane says her favorite part of earning her certification was meeting other educators. “I enjoyed all the classes and meeting folks of like mind. I love being outdoors and learning more about our environment.” She said the instructional workshops really stood out. “The hands-on, instructional (Criteria I) classes were always a joy and well taught - from Fort FisherAquarium to Becky Skiba (NC Wildlife Resources Commission) and birds.”

Jane’s community partnership project reflected her enjoyment of the outdoors and birding. She brought citizen science programs like theGreat Backyard Bird Count and Project FeederWatch to students at the Third Street Education Center in Greenville. Jane describes Third Street Education Center’s property as an “urban forest” with 20 or more mature hardwoods, magnolias, dogwoods, green space and fruit trees.

“During my occasional volunteer times at the school, I noticed that the students, in casual conversation, knew very little about birds, habitats, or thought much about animal needs, or the effect of seasons, etc. Their ability to enjoy and understand the ‘inner-city forest’ that existed on their school grounds never went beyond playing tag and racing around. In general, the students did not appear to have much “environmental experience” let alone understanding. Many had not been to large parks, or forests, were not particularly observant of the setting around them.”

Jane’s project made a lasting impact on the students. “The use of birding activities simply opened the door for greater conversations about nature, about the environment, about specific life needs by bringing it directly into their daily setting. I am told, that even during recess, students are "looking up" and examining the trees and fence rows, looking for the different types of birds.” Her project has also impacted the adults at the school and has led to building and grounds conversations between staff about the uniqueness of their location and about how to preserve and adequately maintain the unique school site. “The adults are beginning to express an understanding of the need to preserve this place and to maintain the health of the trees.”

Jane said the certification program changed her approach to teaching. “I'm a retired teacher and I've always used hands-on lessons. But this has inspired me to be more explicit in how I teach environmental ed. I particularly love the new PLT (Project Learning Tree) book - Explore YourEnvironment - and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers). The lessons were clear and easy to use. Also loved the adaptability to different age groups.”

“The environmental education programs have had many underlying social and emotional learning emphasis. I'm more concerned about the numbers of people who never get to experience or appreciate the importance of the outdoors to our mental health. Working with inner city kids, I've been caught up in the need for kids to get out, to touch, to see, to breathe. If they never have those opportunities, they may never recognize how important the natural world is to their well-being.”

Educator Spotlight: Shelley Moore

Shelley Moore, educator, and park attendant at Walnut Creek Wetland Park in Raleigh recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. Shelley has a master’s degree in natural resources, and an academic background in psychology and education. “I began working at Walnut Creek just under a year ago, and I am so appreciative of the opportunities I have been given there to engage with the community, teach programs, and complete my environmental education partnership project.” In her personal time, she enjoys camping and hiking with her family, trail running, reading, and gardening.

Shelley says that the certification program helped advance her career and enable her to explore the state and connect with other environmental educators. “I moved to North Carolina five years ago, and the certification program has given me a wide variety of opportunities to learn about, explore, and feel connected to our state’s incredible natural resources. I have had wonderful experiences visiting EE centers for workshops and site visits, that I might not have come across without this program. I have also enjoyed meeting other people that are part of the N.C. environmental education community.”

For her community partnership project, Shelley planned and installed a new pollinator garden at Walnut Creek Wetland Park. Partnering with a group of volunteers from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, the garden was planted last fall and provides habitat for pollinators and adds beauty to an area in front of the Norman and Betty Camp Education Center. Going forward, Shelley says the garden will also be used to provide community education and volunteer opportunities. “Working with others to install the pollinator garden was a rewarding experience. This spring, it has been exciting to see the plants thriving and starting to bloom, and to find monarch caterpillars on the milkweed. I’ve also enjoyed talking with park visitors and nature program participants about the garden.”

Shelley says the program helped her become more confident teaching environmental education programs. “When planning programs, I refer to the resources and knowledge I acquired throughout the certification program. I also focus on making programs as interactive, engaging, and hands-on as possible.” 

After participating in the program, Shelley says she changed the way she views environmental issues. “I have a greater appreciation of the many ways in which environmental education can help people connect to the environment and gain an understanding of it, so that they will feel encouraged to take action to address environmental issues in their communities. I feel that this program provided me with an excellent background in environmental education and helped me to become confident in my abilities to provide quality educational programs. I enjoyed the in-person workshops that allowed me to engage with other educators but was also very appreciative of the virtual options that made it possible for me to participate in programs I wouldn’t have been able to attend in person. I look forward to being a part of more workshops in the future!”

Educator Spotlight: Maggie Miller

Maggie Miller, the lead interpretation and education ranger at Pilot Mountain State Park recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. Maggie has been working for NC State Parks for five years and in her role, she works with local students from public and private schools and with homeschool students. She also leads programs for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and other organizations. 

Maggie says her favorite part of earning her certification was attending workshops, learning different teaching methods and her community partnership project. “I engaged with so many wonderful educators and learned new ways of teaching through those classes.”

For her community partnership project, Maggie worked with Charles H. Memorial Library in Pinnacle, NC. With the help of local high school students, she created a native pollinator garden in several of the library's open beds, provided 60 free native wildflower seed packets that included native plants such as common milkweed, purple coneflower, and black-eyed Susan and offered pollinator programs at the library. 

Maggie says participating in the program changed her approach to teaching. “When I started my NC EE Certification, I was new to North Carolina and new to being a NC State Park Ranger. I was a beginner with some experience from working at a state park in Florida. The program really showed me the basics through professional educators. Learning how to provide programs that engage the visitor through observation and place-based education.”

Maggie says the program also changed the way she views environmental issues. “By attending so many wonderful classes through this certification process, I was exposed to issues or topics I didn't know existed. I was already very environmentally aware, but this opened my eyes up to even more and provided me with tools to teach without overwhelming students.”

Educator Spotlight - Jake Swinson

Jake Swinson, a park technician for Wake County Parks, Recreation & Open Space and environmental educator for the City of Raleigh recently completed his NC Environmental Education Certification. 

Jake says working two positions creates variety in his day-to-day work and keeps him working in different locations and multitasking. “Some days I'm opening the preserves or providing educational programming to families and school groups. On other days, I may be doing natural resource surveys or trail maintenance... no two days are the same and I enjoy that! Outside of work I like spending time with my wife and dog, playing music, and going hiking/camping with family and friends. I've been piecing the Appalachian Trail together over several years and hope to finish it soon!”

Jake says his favorite parts of the program were learning new things, visiting new places and meeting new people and the community partnership project he led. “Of the many great experiences within the certification, the overnight camping site visit with my dad at Goose Creek State Park was probably the highlight.” 

For his community partnership project, Jake planted Longleaf Pines at Sandy Pines Preserve in Wendell with help from Wake the Forest Foundation and from volunteers from the community. Jake says, “Although this species is historically native to this location, in recent centuries, it has been diminished greatly. These newly planted trees will establish habitats for different animals, provide a historical, cultural, and environmental centerpiece for educational programs offered by the county, and help to provide cleaner air to the area!”

Jake says that participating in the program helped him become comfortable teaching school-aged children and increased his awareness of the extent of people’s involvement with the environment and environmental education.