Happy Heart ❤ Month

from PA State Parks!

February is a busy and engaging month! We learn about and celebrate Black History all month (see the DEI section below). We just hoped for spring with Groundhog Day (& we were disappointed 😥). We have President's Day, Galentine's Day 🧇, Valentine's ❤ Day, and more to come! Register for our fun, upcoming PD! See below for all that is coming up.

E-Blast Contents:

• Section 1: Teaching Ideas, Activities, & Lessons
• Section 2: In-Person Educator Professional Development Workshops
• Section 3: Conferences for Educators
• Section 4: Explore the ❄ Outdoors!
• Section 5: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
• Capstone: PA State Park Updates

Section 1:

🌳 Teaching Ideas, Activities, & Lessons 💞

Seedlings 🌳 for Schools Time is Here Again!

• Get FREE tree🎍seedlings for your school/school district from the PA Game Commission's Seedlings for Schools program! Order period for the 2023 program is NOW-March 31, 2023. Request your seedlings NOW. The program is open to schools/school districts serving K-12 students. Seedlings will be shipped in April; in time for Earth🌏Day activities, weather permitting. Check out the teacher's guide & student pages.

• Go on a 💘Heart Searching Nature Scavenger Hunt! The heart 💗 shape naturally appears in nature everywhere! There are literally hearts all around you (inside & outside)❣ Includes downloadable 💕scavenger hunt. - from Run Wild My Child

• STEM Activities with Leftover Valentine's Day Candy Hearts 💗! Very few of us actually want to EAT those chalky, candy hearts ❤! Use them for some fun and easy STEM & critical thinking activities instead!

• Learn Outdoors this Winter - Winter Curricula Connections & Activity Ideas - Journaling Prompts; Force, Weight, Friction, & Slope; Winter Scavenger Hunts; a Field Guide to Snowflakes ❄, and so much more! - from InsideOutside
• No Snow? No Problem! Make your own DIY Snow ❄- 3 safe & easy recipes! -from Run Wild My Child
• Teach About Owls 🦉 Using Owl Pellets - Download The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's FREE well-done, detailed bone ID chart. Need pellets? Your local Wildlife Rehabilitation Center may offer free/low-cost pellets. Pellets can also be purchased online.
• Free lesson plan from "Subject to Climate" - "Footprint Calculator." This interactive web tool asks students to answer ?'s about their personal choices & more in order to see the many ways their choices affect their carbon footprints.
• A kid's guide to climate change with a free, downloadable, printable comic. The full-color comic is intended for kids ages 6-12 - from NPR

• Be a Part of the Great Backyard Bird 🐦Count (GBBC) - February 17 - 20, 2023 Watch 🦉 birds & report your findings! Spend as little as 15-minutes watching birds, ID them, count them, & submit the info. to the GBBC to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. How to Participate - You can participate in the GBBC as a classroom too!
• Join a PA State Park Educator at a FREE Great Backyard Count or other bird-related programming at your local PA State Park! 📸

Section 2:

Late WINTER In-Person Educator Professional

Development Workshops

Go to the DCNR Calendar for ALL Upcoming Educator Workshops

COVID safety protocols will be followed for all in-person workshops.

Growing Up WILD🐻Educator Workshop 

Saturday, February 25, 8:30 am - 12:00 pm

In-Person at Moraine State Park, State Park Region 2 Conference Room, 195 Park Road, Prospect PA 16052

Act 48: 3.5 Hours

Cost: $20.00 Pre-registration is required.

Growing Up WILD: Exploring Nature with Young Children (GUW) is an early childhood education activity guide that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Workshop participants will receive their own newly revised guide. GUW is designed for early childhood educators of children ages 3-7, & it features 27 field-tested, hands-on, nature-based activities in a new edition, full-color, 8 1/2” x 11” activity guide. Each lesson includes ideas for crafts, art projects, music, reading, & math connections. GUW is correlated to the National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards & the Head Start Domains. Register via email moraineenvedsp@pa.gov or call the Park Office at (724) 368-8811. Open to all Educators.

GO Teach: Snowshoe Educator Workshop ❄

Saturday, February 25, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

In-Person at Greenwood Furnace State Park, 15795 Greenwood Road, Huntingdon, PA 16652

Act 48: 6 hrs.

Fee: $20.00 Pre-registration is required. Includes GO Teach guide, access to loaner equipment, & refreshments

Learn how to enable your students to discover Penn's Woods through an interdisciplinary set of lessons created by the PA Bureau of State Parks. Lessons focus on health, fitness, and trip planning; weather & climate change; and history. The lessons address several Physical Education & Health standards as well as standards for Geography, Science & Technology, Environment & Ecology, and History. The course will include an afternoon snowshoe around Greenwood Furnace. All equipment provided. Open to all formal & non-formal educators. Registration Deadline: 2/17/23. To register/pay, contact the park office at 814-667-1800.

Growing Up WILD Educator Workshop

Saturday, February 25, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

In-Person at Norristown Farm Park, 2500 Upper Farm Road East Norriton Pa 19403 

Fee: $10.00 payable day of in cash or check; pre-registration is required 

Act 48: 3.5 hrs. 

Growing Up WILD: Exploring Nature with Young Children is an early childhood activity guide (ages 2-7) that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature🐻and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of multi-modal activities and experiences, it provides a foundation for developing positive impressions about nature while also building lifelong social & cognitive skills. In this hands-on workshop, participants will be introduced to the curriculum, guided in its use, and shown the resources available through Growing Up WILD, Bureau of State Parks, and Montgomery County. Register NOW! Questions? Contact Rebecca Blackletter, Envi. Educator at rblacketter@montcopa.org or 610-270-0215 ext. 6073. Registration deadline 2/11/23.

Getting Little Feet Wet💦Early Childhood Educator Workshop

Saturday, March 4, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Offered by Presque Isle State Park, 301 Peninsula Drive, Erie, PA 16505

Workshop will be held in-person at the Erie Zoo, 423 West 38^th Street, Erie, PA 16508

Act 48: 3 hrs.

Fee: $20 payable in advance; call 814-833-7424 to pre-pay via credit card or visit the Tom Ridge Environmental Center Tues-Friday 8 am-4 pm to pre-pay in person. Pre-registration & pre-payment are required.

Presque Isle State Park & the Erie Zoo are partnering to facilitate a workshop for early childhood educators. Become certified in the nationally tested, early childhood curriculum Getting Little Feet Wet from Project WET. With a focus on all things water, this curriculum will bring new activities, songs, and crafts to your classroom. Includes a behind-the-scenes tour of the Erie Zoo to discover how water is used. Register NOW! Registration deadline: 2/20/23. Questions? Contact Stacey Marendt, EES, at smarendt@pa.gov or 814-833-7424.

Flying🦅WILD Educator Workshop with a MWEE💦Flair

Saturday, March 18, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm

In-Person at Millersville University, Watershed Education & Training Institute (WETi) at Creek Lodge, 198 Creek Dr., Millersville, PA 17551

Act 48: 4.5 hrs.

Fee: FREE! (grant funded)

Join PA State Parks at Millersville University for a Flying WILD workshop with a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) flair! Flying Wild is an education guide focused specifically on birds, providing participants with innovative and ready-to-use activities for the classroom and outdoors. The curriculum works to develop awareness concerning bird biology, conservation, & natural history. Dr. Nanette Marcum-Dietrich of Millersville University will also introduce the MWEE Framework in early childhood education. All attendees will receive the Flying WILD: An Educator's Guide to Celebrating Birds curriculum. Workshop is focused for upper elementary & middle school teachers. Pre-registration is required & space is limited. Register NOW. Email nanette.marcum-dietrich@millersville.edu with any questions.

Section 3:

Conferences for Educators

DIVE DEEPER VII - Biennial Youth Water 💦 Educators Summit

Thursday, September 28, 2023 - Harrisburg, PA

Be a Session Presenter at the Mid-Atlantic Region's

Award-Winning Water Education Summit - Dive Deeper!

Dive Deeper 💦 is a one-day professional development conference with hands-on workshops, inspiring guest speakers, diverse exhibitors, networking lunch, and more. The 2023 event will also feature a new pre-conference reception on Wednesday evening.

1. This conference's focus is to strengthen educators' capacity to teach youth (and adults) about water, water ecosystems, aquatic life, water use, & related topics.

2. Dive Deeper is attended by both formal & informal educators, academic researchers, water-related non-profit organizations, companies focusing on water, and government agencies.

3. Concurrent session presentations will be ~45 minutes long.

SESSION PROPOSALS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN Wednesday, March 1, 2023!

Submit Your Dive Deeper Summit Session Proposal NOW

Questions? Contact Jennifer Fetter at 4Hwater@psu.edu or (717) 921-8803.

2023 Pennsylvania Association for Environmental Educators (PAEE) Annual Conference

~​Old Forests, New Lessons: Growing as Educators~

• March 13 -14, 2023
• Act 48 hours provided!
• In-Person at Camp Hebron, Halifax, PA
• Register NOW (overnight & commuter rates available)

Questions? Contact PAEE Administrative Coordinator Stacey Widenhofer at stacey@paee.net.

Section 4:

Explore the Outdoors!

February is full of love💗 for outdoor recreation programming. Have you ever wanted to try a new recreation but didn't know how or where to go? Consider attending one of the many amazing and free outdoor recreation programs scheduled at Pennsylvania State Parks this February:

• Friday Healthy Hikes 🥾 February 10, 17, & 24 - Washington Crossing Historic Park
• Snowshoeing for Beginners ❄ February 11 - Canoe Creek State Park
• Learn to Ski Demo Day 🎿February 11 - Laurel Hill State Park
• Fun in the Snow at Black Mo ⛸February 11 - Black Moshannon State Park
• Valentine's Day Special - Archery for Singles 🏹 February 11 - Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
• Snowman in the Forest Day ⛸February 18 - Cook Forest State Park
• Birding with Baird-Great Backyard Bird Count Edition 🐦February 18 - Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center
• Cross-Country Ski Basics ⛷ February 25 - Parker Dam State Park

Section 5:

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

- Learn more about DCNR's DEI efforts-

The SFI-PLT-MANRRS Black Faces in Green Spaces: The Journeys of Black Professionals in Green Careers is a career resource guide developed in partnership with Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS). This guide introduces youth to the many jobs in the forest & conservation sector through the lens of Black Professionals currently working in the field. The title of the guide pays homage to the Black author, Carolyn Finney, who authored the book Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors.

The Journeys Guide is designed for middle & high school students, pre-professional youth, parents, and natural resource professionals looking to increase diversity within the natural resources professions. A 2019 U.S. Census Survey found that <3% of foresters & conservation scientists identify as Black American (Moore, 2019). There is a general lack of awareness of this discipline among communities of color and the lack of awareness of the many contributions made by these same communities. Within this guide, 22 Black professionals share their journeys to their green careers in hopes to inspire the next generation.

Learn more about & pre-order the new Black Faces in Green Spaces: The Journeys of Black Professionals in Green Careers resources!

Book your virtual, in-person programs, and field experiences with PA State Park Educators now! Find a PA State Park. Need help connecting to a PA State Park with an Educator on staff? Reach out to Carissa Longo at calongo@pa.gov.

DCNR facilities and Programs are OPEN to ALL:

• Many Environmental Education programs require pre-registration. Explore the DCNR events calendar for details and to register.
• Plan your outing before you leave. Learn about facilities, download on your phone or print a park map, and review regulations here: Find A Park
• Check out the PA State Parks Winter Report ❄ before you leave!
• Take care of & respect the resource. Park, hike, hunt, & more only in designated areas.
• Check the weather before you depart, wear layers & proper footwear, and bring water. Wear orange if hiking in designated hunting areas.
• Please do not litter 🚮.
• Alcohol is not allowed in PA State Parks.
• Make a reservation at a PA State Park Campground, Camping Cottage, Cabin, or Yurt. Reservations can be made up to 11 months in advance.

You can help keep state parks safe for all by following these practices:

• Use the restroom before you leave your house 🏡
• Bring a bag and either carry out your trash or dispose of it properly
• Stay on marked trails
• Clean up after pets 🐕

• Continue to practice social distancing (stay >6' apart)
• Take hand sanitizer with you and use it regularly
•  Avoid touching your face, eyes, and nose
• If you are sick or have been exposed to someone who is sick, stay home

💞 Hello February! 💞

Carissa Longo, Environmental Education Program Coordinator

&

Christine Ticehurst, Recreation and Interpretation Coordinator

Visit the DCNR Events Calendar- Teacher Workshops to find additional training opportunities! Click the arrows to see upcoming months.