Leesville Road Middle School Celebrates a New School Mural and Pollinator Garden and Recognizes School Library Media Coordinator Evelyn Bussell.

Evelyn Bussell, the School Library Media Coordinator at Leesville Road Middle School in Raleigh, was recognized yesterday for completing her NC Environmental Education Certification during a Spring Showcase and ribbon cutting for the school’s new mural and pollinator garden. The showcase also included performances by students in the dance program. 

The showcase was an appropriate place to recognize Evelyn’s achievement – the school’s pollinator garden was her community partnership project for her certification. Evelyn says in addition to Leesville Middle; the garden will also benefit other schools. “I worked with our environmental club students and many different community members and organizations to create three pollinator gardens and one monarch waystation using NC native plants. As our school is located on the only three-school-campus in our school district so teachers, classes and students from the neighboring elementary and high schools, in addition to our own middle school, will have access to and be able to use the gardens to support their units on plants, habitats, pollinators and more. Any visitors to our gardens can contribute to citizen science using our QR codes to share their observations and our environmental club students will submit the collected data to The Great Sunflower Project. In addition to students from our school, local Boy Scouts and high school students earned community service hours assisting with the project.”

Lisa Tolley, program manager for the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs, and Kelly Hendrix, assistant park manager of Education for Blue Jay Point and Green Hills County Park with Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space presented Evelyn with her certificate. “Thank you for the opportunity to recognize Ms. Bussell for her dedication to environmental education, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with her students for getting students outdoors to learn across disciplines.” Principal Chris Cox thanked Evelyn for leading the school's environmental club and the PTSA for their support of the club's projects including the pollinator garden and other improvements at the school. 

In addition to her roles as media coordinator, Evelyn also serves as the school’s technical contact and sponsors the school’s environmental club. “Outside of my school-based role I enjoy serving as a mentor for new school librarians, facilitating the district's professional development for school library media coordinators working towards their initial or maintaining their National Boards Certification, and serving on the Wake NC Association of Educators Leadership and Organizing Committees.” In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with my kids and "framily," hiking, camping, kayaking, watercolor painting, taking nature photography, quilting, and of course, reading.

Evelyn notes that the best part of earning her certification was the instructional workshops. “All the workshops reignited my passion for teaching, becoming a better educator all-around and having fun with science, a subject that I struggled with during my own school years.”  When asked what experience in the program stood out to her, Evelyn says it was the Educator Treks offered through the NC Museum of Natural Sciences that allowed her to learn and connect with other educators while exploring some amazing places.

Evelyn completed her professional development at Blue Jay County Park and at other educational institutions throughout the state including Lake Johnson Park, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, Walnut Creek Wetland Center in addition to visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Pocosin Lakes and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuges through the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Educator Trek program. You can read more about her professional development experiences on her website.

Evelyn says the program changed her approach to teaching. “Going through the EE Certification program allowed me to collaborate with science teachers in my school and become confident in taking students outside for learning experiences.”

The NC Environmental Education Certification is offered through the Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs to encourage professional development in environmental education and acknowledge educators committed to environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.eenorthcarolina.org.