Educator Spotlight: Katie Zimmerman

Katie Zimmerman, the Assistant Park Manager of Programming and Administration with Lake Johnson Park, recently completed the NC Environmental Education Certification. Katie says the certification program helped her find a job. 

“My passion is connecting the community to their environment, so my favorite part of my job is coordinating programs, teaching when I can, and helping visitors create an experience at our park to meet their needs. On my own time, I love camping, finding new trails to explore, and searching creeks and streams for critters with my daughter Sawyer. Otherwise, you can find me climbing the crags, snuggling with my two cats, reading, or crocheting!

Katie says her favorite part of the certification process was learning and expanding her knowledge. “Before I was working on my certification, I already enjoyed visiting nature centers and taking professional development classes, so I appreciated that I could keep doing that and earn credit towards something that could help me in my career.”

When asked about an experience in the program that stood out for her, she said it was the community partnership project. “The community project was a unique part of the experience. My project allowed me to connect with my neighborhood in a way I wouldn't have otherwise.” 

For her partnership project, Katie worked with her neighborhood's HOA to turn one of the neighborhood’s most popular trails into a nature trail. “The HOA was immediately interested - apparently it was something they'd already been thinking about doing, especially since there is a large white ash tree on the trail that has been protected from the emerald ash borer, and the HOA wanted our residents to be able to find the tree more easily. I walked the trail with one of the park committee members, and we worked together to identify additional features of the trail that we thought our community would appreciate. It created a way to engage our neighborhood in learning about their environment, the opportunity to work together and to find members of our community who are also passionate about our trails.”

Katie says the certification program changed her approach to teaching. “Through the program, I learned more about teaching through discovery. This has influenced how I teach other topics as well. Rather than simply sharing the information, I focus on asking questions, making connections, and guiding others to make conclusions for themselves.”

Katie says the program also changed the way she thinks about environmental issues. “A big thing I learned about environmental issues through this program is how everything is connected. Not just in the ecological sense, such as human impact on one species affecting the entire ecosystem. The connections are "cross-curricular." Environmental issues span into math and literature, as well as into local government, social justice, human rights, and national policy.”