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From the Executive Director: Restoration Projects Inspire Next Generation of Environmental Stewards
One of my passions outside of my work with green schools is restoring historic homes. I have restored two such homes over the years, in Massachusetts and in Iowa. And not just any old house...the building had to speak to me. In both cases, the land the homes sat on needed attention as well. In Massachusetts, the grass surrounding the home was up to my hips and old grapevines masked an abundance of heirloom plants. The home in Iowa, a historic farmhouse, came with prairie land in desperate need of restoration. I took on both projects with abandon; however, as much as I enjoyed restoring the old homes, it was the restoration of the landscapes that brought me the greatest satisfaction.
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Heather Flanagan, Project Coordinator for Communications for the Billion Oyster Project Curriculum and Community Enterprise, shares how her organization is engaging teachers and students in oyster restoration efforts in New York Harbor, and restoration-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education programs.
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Kristen Mueller, Director of Communications at Earth Force, introduces readers to the Caring for Our Watersheds program, a competition that challenges students to identify pressing environmental issues in their community's watershed and develop innovative, sustainable solutions.
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Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong, Director of Earth Partnership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, discusses how students use the organization's ten step process to restore native habitats, and presents a case study involving the restoration of the Kinnickinnic River.
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Alejandra Pallais, Senior Director, Marketing and Constituent Engagement, Student Conservation Association (SCA), shares a brief history of the SCA and its impact on participants, as well as a sampling of youth and young adult programs.
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The humble tree confers many benefits to humans and the environment: it offers shade and shelter from the sun, helps cool urban centers, is a home and food source for wildlife, and reduces erosion and soil loss in runoff prone areas. It is no wonder, then, that forests are highly prized habitats, sustaining life and livelihoods. Forests also serve as ideal learning environments for students of all ages, and their highly complex ecosystem promises many opportunities for teaching about the natural world as well as other core subjects. The state of Wisconsin has taken the idea of the forest classroom one step further with its state-wide school forest program. Through this program, schools are infusing forestry education into their curriculum and teaching students to be responsible stewards of forests using smart, sustainable management techniques.
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Invasive species activities should include the restoration of native habitat. Reprinted with permission from Green Teacher magazine and originally authored by Steven Braun.
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