Educator Spotlight: Kathryn Reis

Kathryn Reis, an educator with Randolph County Soil and Water Conservation District, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification.

Kathryn develops and leads environmental education programs for students in Asheboro City and Randolph County schools. “I pursue partnerships with libraries, YMCAs, afterschool clubs, homeschool groups, etc. to lead environmental education activities. I also develop outreach efforts for Randolph County citizens.”  In her personal time, Kathryn enjoys hiking, reading, nature journaling and pollinator gardening and this summer she is attempting to grow a vegetable gardening!

Kathryn says participating in the certification program helped advance her career. “I have engaged in environmental education off and on, mostly as a volunteer, since 1994. Participation in this certification program equipped me with more knowledge about environmental education’s history, reputable techniques and available curriculum. The program introduced me to leaders in environmental action civics, which has been a long time passion of mine. It also helped me grow my peer network and assess my strengths and weaknesses as an environmental educator. Most importantly, the program reaffirmed why I have transitioned my career away from policy advocacy and governmental relations to environmental education.

For her community partnership project, Kathryn developed a three-day session with Teachey Elementary School in Asheboro. “ I had a blast educating the 2nd and 3rd graders about the natural history of monarch butterflies, how to design a garden and helping them create a pollinator garden outside their classroom. A quarter of the class said my lesson set was their favorite part of the school year. All of the students were extremely proud of the plant they placed in the garden. I hope to replicate this three-day learning session with other elementary schools!”

Kathryn says the program changed her approach to teaching. “I learned that I gravitate towards being “a sage on stage” which is typical of many trained scientist. Thus, the Methods of Teaching Environmental Education workshop guided me on a self-assessment of my teaching style and spurred lasting changes in my approach. For instance, I now incorporate an observation component into the start of my lessons, even for career fairs. I use this exercise to encourage the participants to act and think like a scientist. I remind them that there are no wrong answers because they are in discovery mode. I also learned how to tailor lessons to different age groups. Prior to my current job, most of my environmental education work was as a nature trail interpreter. Thus, this certification program equipped me with more teaching techniques for my toolbox.”

She says the program also changed the way she views environmental issues. “Prior to this certification program, my career was devoted to the resolution of environmental issues via policy analysis and partnership building. This certification program allowed me to learn how to teach environmental issues to youth across all grades by using existing environmental action civics models. I received training through Earth Force and now have resources and peers that can help me facilitate the entire student led process of problem identification, contextual research, problem solving and partnership building to put their resolution idea into action for an environmental issue they care about.”