Educator Spotlight: Sharon Bippus

Dr. Sharon Bippus, a retired college instructor who is pursuing a post-retirement career in environmental education, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification.

Sharon has worked as an educator for many years and has a background in English as a Second Language (ESL). She is currently teaching ESL at Forsyth Technical Community College. “I have worked with adults, but I have also taught high school and middle school. In addition, I taught intensive summer programs in China and Slovakia, and I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Russia for two years. After moving to North Carolina from Texas in August of 2023, I decided to add another dimension to my teaching toolbox, so I began working on the North Carolina Environmental Education certificate. In my free time, I enjoy spending time in nature, photography, and arts and crafts."

Sharon says her favorite part of the certification program was exploring different parts of the state and having more access to nature. “The first workshop I attended in person was Wild about Elk on Grandfather Mountain. Later I traveled to the coast and visited the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, and of course, I have visited many locations near my new home in the Piedmont. Melanie Buckingham, the librarian at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library in Greensboro, has been an amazing resource, and I have attended many of her workshops. Visiting so many different locations throughout the entire state has provided me with an incredible introduction to North Carolina.”

The certification experience that stood out to Sharon was a workshop offered through North Carolina State Parks. “My favorite workshop, which was taught by Regional Education Specialist Brian Bockhahn at the Carolina Beach State Park, was Nature Art because it combined two of my favorite things – creative expression and nature.”

For her community partnership project, Sharon was able to merge two of her interests -gardening and ESL. “I created a study guide for the young adult novel Seedfolks and facilitated a book group for the ESL students at the local YMCA. Seedfolks by Paul Fleischmann tells the story of a community garden that brings a diverse group of neighbors together as they turn a vacant city lot into a thriving garden. Our book group also brought together a diverse group. The participants represented Germany, Honduras, Iran, South Korean, Spain, and Venezuela, and we enjoyed learning about the themes in the book and each other’s cultures.”

Sharon says that the program changed the way she approached teaching. “Participating in the certification program has expanded my perception of the concept of a ‘classroom,’ and I have learned how to adapt the skills that I already have and apply them to different situations. As a classroom ESL teacher, I have always been a proponent of active learning and experiential learning, but the certification program showed me how to use nature as my classroom, and it has increased my awareness of new teaching tools.”

Participating in the Environmental Education Certification program benefited Sharon in some other unanticipated ways. “One of the pleasant surprises of participating in this program was meeting people from such a variety of professional backgrounds – K-12 teachers, professors, librarians, park rangers, city and county employees, and entrepreneurs, just to name a few – but the one thing we all have in common is our interest in the environment. It encourages me to know that so many people care and are advocating for the environment in a multitude of ways.”