Last Thursday I was lucky enough to go on a field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul with my son’s art class. The high school anatomy class students were also in tow. For about 45 kids, mostly in grades 11-12, there were three teachers and two parent chaperones. I had not…
Ten years ago I had my Evergreen Garden Club students participate in a large Citizen Science Project. It was co-hosted by Monarch Watch and NASA (yes, that NASA). Monarch larvae were sent into space via the space shuttle to arrive at the International Space Station. At the same time, project participants, including those in my…
Yesterday was my last day of work at a job I’ve only had a little more than 8 months. It was a job I wanted, a job I was given the opportunity to have, and a job in what I was educated to do – be an environmental educator. But, alas, the job was not…
This morning I had coffee with a friend, a former teacher, and mentor to all three of my boys in the subject of mathematics. He appreciates the difference in all three of my sons, the way their abilities manifested, and their chosen paths. During our coffee clutches we attempt to solve the problems of the…
I am no stranger to committee work. When we moved to Wisconsin, over twenty years ago now, I immersed myself in our local school system. I had a boy entering kindergarten within a year and was expecting my second son. Getting involved in our school district was one of the most fulfilling and important jobs…
School gardens are in my blood. I’ve been continually involved in planning, planting, and caring for school gardens since 2004! Fifteen years! Wow, that is a long time! And, more remarkably, that span of time only involves two gardens! My first school garden involvement was at the elementary school where my boys attended their first…
Today, I decided to try my hand at writing some book spine poetry. This is a form of poetry I have heard about but never written. Earlier this week I saw a social media post from our high school showing students in the library, working on book spine poetry. Not having any background in this…
Yesterday, I talked to 135 second graders about treating our forests as our friends. I used the concept of community to make the lesson as familiar as possible for them. For I know that by second grade students are introduced to this in their classes. Communities are successful if everyone works together and does their…
So, I’m watching an old episode of the television show Everybody Loves Raymond, where his son is staying home from school. The boy is maybe seven years old. It comes out that he has school phobia because he was teased. He accidentally called the teacher, “mommy” when he asked her a question. His classmates heard…