Educator Spotlight: Haley Bock

Haley Bock, an AmeriCorps service member with Resilience and Climate Corps North Carolina, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification

Haley’s AmeriCorps host site is the Piedmont Triad Regional Council where her service supports their Stormwater SMART program. Haley is involved in program planning and educating communities about stormwater, water quality and conservation. 

Haley’s favorite part of earning her certification was networking, learning new things and being able to travel across the state for different opportunities. “The program helped me network throughout the state for a future career.” 

When asked about a certification experience that stood out for her, Haley says it was the Swamp Treehouse Adventure Educator Trek with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. The experiences allow educators to camp along the Cashie River at the Town of Winsor’s treehouse cabins while experiencing a blackwater river and learning about the bottomland hardwood swamp habitat. 

For her community partnership project, Haley collaborated with Keep Davidson County Beautiful to organize a cleanup on Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service. “The event engaged local community members to help cleanup their community.” 

Haley says the certification program changed her approach to teaching. “I learned strategies for teaching different age groups and learning how I can adjust my communication skills with different groups of people.” 

She also says the program changed the way she thinks about environmental issues. “I learned a lot of things I never knew before, so it gave me a broader view on some environmental issues. I know that learning about native an invasive plants has stuck with me along with composting and recycling.”