Educator Spotlight: Cassie Wyatt

Cassie Wyatt, an environmental educator with the Gaston County Natural Resources Department, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. 

Cassie has a bachelor's degree in animal health and behavior and a background as a zookeeper. She enjoys teaching about wildlife and when she isn’t teaching she enjoys reading, creating art and exploring nature. 

Cassie says her favorite part of the program was traveling to different sites. “I was able to explore North Carolina from the mountains to the ocean in order to receive credits. There were so many cool training opportunities that took place all across the state.”

When asked about an experience that stood out for her, Cassie says it was the Hood Huggers tour in Asheville. “I learned about the history of African Americans in the area and how they have continued to strengthen their community despite challenging hardships. The tour guide showed us a neighborhood that had their own community vegetable garden and peace garden which included a lot of art and history of the neighborhood. The overall tour was extremely eye-opening and inspiring.”

For her community project, Cassie created a wildlife scat identification program for the Stanley Middle School Envirothon Teams. The NC Envirothon is a fun, hands-on, natural science academic competition for teams of middle and high school students and is sponsored by the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and local districts. The subjects for the Envirothon competition include Aquatic Ecology, Forestry, Soils and Land Use, Wildlife and Current Environmental Issues. Cassie noticed that the students were struggling with scat identification which is part of the competition. “Since they were studying for the Envirothon competition, I knew I had to strengthen their scat knowledge! I designed a program that included squishy replicas of wildlife scat that they could see and touch and before I knew it, they successfully placed in the Area Envirothon competition and are heading to the State Envirothon Competition. 

Cassie says the program changed her approach to teaching. “I take different types of people into consideration. Beforehand, I would create lesson plans that were not designed for everyone. Now, I make sure to make my educational programs accessible to everyone.”

She also says the program changed the way she views environmental issues. “I have always cared about environmental issues but sometimes it gets to a point where you feel burnt out and helpless. The trainings I took and the people I met through this certification helped me feel less helpless and numb to the issues around me. I was taught that teaching and helping our community rather than trying to save the world makes a huge difference when it comes to environmental issues. 

Educator Spotlight: Tammy Weller

Tammy Weller, a high school media coordinator at Green Level High School in Wake County, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification.

As a media coordinator, Tammy coordinates with teachers at the school to provide hands-on real-world learning experiences for students. She says her love of the outdoors inspired her to pursue the certification. Tammy says the networking was one of the parts of the program she appreciated the most, especially meeting other educators who share the same passion for the outdoors.

When asked about a certification experience that stands out to her, Tammy says it was the Swamp Treehouse Adventure Educator Trek offered by the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and the Flying Wild Workshop offered by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

For her community partnership project Tammy collaborated with the Advanced Placement  (AP) Environmental Science, AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics team to facilitate a three-day student workshop using the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator.

“At Green Level, we have developed intense partnerships/collaborations with 52 teachers and instruct about 400 lessons a year. When I began my certification journey, I wanted to expand our collaborations with the Advanced Placement Environmental Science  (APES) team. Once I completed the En-ROADS training, I realized this was perfect and could reach more than 300 students–not just passively, but through ACTIVE involvement. In addition, based on the training, I realized it’s a great opportunity to bring in the economic side of the climate issue with the AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics teams.”

Tammy says the students were able to actively participate and discuss a climate goal using the simulator. “Discussions were valuable and impactful as they tried to develop a strategy based on the results of the simulator. It provided students with the opportunity to evaluate any preconceived ideas or thoughts which in turn allowed them to assess what was different. We insist students back up any statements or claims with relevant, accurate sources so they had to justify their findings as well. By reaching 300 students who will potentially go out to 100 different communities, this workshop helped them realize real-world implications so they can impact and make a change in those communities as well.”

Tammy says the certification changed her approach to teaching because of the focus on hands-on lessons and activities. “When I started in this field back in the 1990’s, it was just gaining public momentum. It’s great to see it continue to evolve and develop.”