August 2022
Texas Children in Nature Network Quarterly Newsletter
|
|
 |
What a summer it has been for Texas Children in Nature Network! The season has been busy as we geared up for our Annual Summit. Registration is officially open, and we can't wait to see you there.
Our regional collaboratives have been hard at work together to engage more children and families in nature, and some exciting updates from various parts of the state are included in this newsletter
|
A New Region Joins TCiNN
We are excited to welcome a new region to our Network - the Central Texas Region. This region stretches north from Georgetown along I35 to the east/west split. Partners include such great organization as the Bosque Museum, Baylor University Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research, and Plantwise Landscapes. If you are located in this part of the state and would like to join the regional collaborative, please let Sarah know. |
|
|
|
Register today for our 2022 Summit in December 7-9 at the AT&T Center at the University of Texas at Austin. |
Our next webinar, Literacy in the Garden: Creating an Engaging Story Walk, is on September 7th at both 2:00 and 7:00 Central.
Check out all our upcoming webinars on our Website!
|
|
|
|
|
EcoRise and the Mayor's Youth Engagement Council for Climate Initiatives
The mission of the Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council for Climate Initiatives (MYECCI) and the Austin Youth Climate Equity Council (AYCEC) is to give a platform to youth who want to actively engage in the civic process and invest in the future of their city. The councils develop youth insights, increase communication between adults and youth, and build accountability for implementing climate action on their school campuses and in their city's community.
San Antonio: The 2021–2022 Council has taken action through Community Impact Projects and by making key recommendations for addressing community needs through the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). They presented their work and insights to City Council Members and the larger community at the 2nd Annual San Antonio Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council Showcase and the first-ever in-person showcase on May 17, 2022, at Confluence Park.
Austin: The 2021–2022 school year was the inaugural year of the AYCEC. Council members have gained an understanding of Environmental Justice, accessed opportunities for professional development, sharpened leadership, and communication skills, and networked with local climate and political leaders. The AYCEC took action through their Community Impact Projects, which each address a tenet of Austin’s Climate Equity Plan. The AYCEC presented their work and insights to the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability and Austin ISD administration through a virtual showcase on May 19, 2022.
|
|
|
|
Department of Education and Green Ribbon Schools
On Earth Day, April 22, in a video message from Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and press release, the Department announced the names of the 2022 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS). They were then celebrated at a July ceremony in Washington, D.C. Across the country for more than a decade, over 670 institutions have been awarded, but not one of them has been in Texas, where we know there is fantastic school sustainability work underway. While Texas Education Agency (TEA) has not yet nominated for this federal award, hearing from interested schools, early learning centers, and districts can make a difference. Contact TEA to request nomination for the ED-GRS award if your school or district can demonstrate progress across the ED-GRS award’s three Pillars. These are: 1) reducing environmental impacts and costs, encompassing waste, water, energy, and transportation; 2) improving health and wellness, including environmental health, nutrition, outdoors physical activity, and whole child health; and 3) offering effective environmental and sustainability education. Candidates cannot apply directly to the U.S. Department of Education; they must be nominated by their state. Consult the efforts of past honorees and the Department’s Green Strides School Sustainability Resource Hub for more ideas as to how to advance in these areas.
|
|
|
|
|
Deep in the Heart Film and Curriculum
Deep in the Heart video clips, narrated by Matthew McConaughey, are available for educational use to connect students to Texas’s unique environments, inspire awe in the natural beauty of our state, and lead to actions that support conservation. Each video includes 4 TEKS and NGSS-aligned lessons for K-12 teachers and students. Lessons include directions for the teacher, student documents in English and Spanish, and English and Spanish PowerPoint files. The lessons are aligned with the 2020/2021 revised Science TEKS. Connections to Social Studies TEKS and the Next Generation Science Standards are also made.
Lesson Subjects Available
American Bison - Great Plains
Black Bear - Mountains & Basins
Ecosystems of the Texas Gulf Coast - Coastal Plains
Guadalupe Bass - Great Plains
|
|
|
|
|
Take Care of Texas Video Contest
The Take Care of Texas Video Contest is a fun way for young people to learn about protecting the environment and come up with creative ways to share this knowledge with others! Students in grades 6–12 will create an original 30-second video that shows positive ways to Take Care of Texas. Contest sponsor Waste Management of Texas, Inc. will award prizes to the creators of the best videos. The middle school students who create the top three videos will win gift vouchers to purchase camera equipment and creators of the top three high school videos will receive scholarships of up to $2,500.
|
|
|
|
East Texas - Robyn's Health and Nature Liaison Update
The greater Houston region has had a busy summer! The east region includes the City of Houston, also covers the counties of Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Montgomery. This region has been doing some major collaboration, planning, and partnering over the past few months.
Some of the community engagement activities that took place this summer were a community canvassing event and an outdoor youth yoga session. These events took place in neighborhoods in the Houston area that are often overlooked when it comes to accessibility and support in outdoor and nature activities. The surveying of these families and youth during these events was truly valuable and one of a kind!
TCiNN has been working with our partners to produce a Public Lands Day Health event. Join us on September 24 at 9am as we come together to make a positive impact on our shared environment as we keep Spring Creek Clean and take a load off with an activity afterwards that will keep your soles moving or relax your mind!
For registration and more information, please visit: www.pct3.com
|
|
|
|
Every newsletter we bring you the story of a conservationist doing great work so we can all share about more conservation heroes.
Author and Professor: Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer
“For all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.”
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Dr. Kimmerer is a distinguished Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She combines her identity as an Indigenous woman with both her scientific and environmental passions. Through studying botany, she has learned to use the tools of science to ask questions about the natural world, and as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she believes that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. By braiding Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and modern science, she believes we can create a sustainable future. Dr. Kimmerer is a strong advocate for not just our ecological communities but also our relationship with the land. She sees ecological restoration as an act of reciprocity in return for the gifts we have received from the earth.
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer holds a B.S. in Botany from SUNY ESF and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Wisconsin. She is the newly appointed Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at SUNY ESF, where she oversees programs that expand access for Indigenous students studying environmental science. Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant biology, traditional knowledge, and restoration ecology.
Check out this video of Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer telling us about Indigenous storytelling traditions and what we can learn through them to build a resilient future.
Center for Humans and Nature – Questions for a Resilient Future, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer
Bioneers – Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass, Dr. Robin Kimmerer
|
|
|
Lower Rio Grande Valley - Marisa's Health and Nature Liaison Update
Texas Children in Nature - Rio Grande Valley is working to identify strategies to help children be happier and healthier through outdoor activity in nature. We have identified five potential strategies based on a survey we conducted in May of 2022 and initial meetings with key partners. More information about those strategies can be found HERE. We are currently working on one of those strategies with the development of a region-wide Nature Smart Library Program that will include loaner nature backpacks and seed libraries at eight libraries in Hidalgo and Cameron County.
An additional strategy that we are making headway with is with the Outdoor Learning Spaces. Recently, Marisa Oliva, and Hanna Marble, the Pharr Urban Ecologist, became the first certified OLE! Texas Designers in the region. These efforts are geared toward engaging and encouraging early childcare facilities and programs to incorporate outdoor learning spaces into their facilities.
Lastly, we are hosting the next TCiNN meeting at Camp Rio in Brownsville in September, where partners will come together to decide which strategies, we will be pursuing region wide.
|
|
|
|
North Texas - Jenny's Health and Nature Liaison Update
I was invited to the Growing Healthy Communities Conference held by the Tarrant Area Food Bank at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. It was a unique opportunity for collaborative learning between local growers, residents, schools, community organizations, local businesses, and families. This full day of education and connecting with community partners gave me a greater sense of the importance of not working in silos. During the welcome address, Dr. Helena Mosely, the Executive Director of Head Start, emphasized: “The Food Bank can’t solve [root causes] by themselves. They need to identify partners who can work in specific areas.” This was a sentiment that was echoed across the panels I attended and with the individuals I spoke with.
From learning how to develop quality health programming connected to nature with the University of North Texas Health Science Center, to learning how to build an outdoor classroom with Keep Grand Prairie Beautiful, I took away an abundance of information. This information on what different groups are doing across North Texas will help guide me in my work as the Health and Nature Liaison for DFW. After the conference, I connected with local food banks which are working on a variety of initiatives ranging from creating children’s gardens to improving mental health in our communities.
|
|
|
|
Access Partner Spotlight - Project WILD |
Project WILD is a national and internationally renowned wildlife-based conservation and environmental education curriculum that fosters responsible actions toward wildlife and related natural resources. Developed by professionals within the fields of education and natural resource management, this award-winning program is continually updated to meet changing standards in education and new discoveries in the field.
Project WILD Suite includes three different curricula guides with different themes and is geared toward different ages. The Project WILD and Aquatic WILD K-12 Curriculum & Activity Guide feature over 200 activities on terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, habitat, and ecological concepts for students in Kinder through High School. The newest guide, Growing Up WILD, is an early childhood education program for ages 3 to 7, that builds on children's sense of wonder about nature. All activities are age-appropriate, hands-on, and inquiry-based, incorporating multiple disciplines and field investigations to encourage outdoor play and discovery. There is also a Spanish K-12 guide called Proyecto WILD that features translated activities from both Project WILD and Aquatic WILD, and a new Spanish pre-k guide in the works.
In the State of Texas, Kiki Corry, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Project WILD Coordinator, manages the program with over 200 active facilitators leading around 100 workshops a year.
Together, TCiNN and Project WILD are working towards helping youth be more active outdoors while gaining a love and appreciation of nature and wildlife. If you are interested in offering these wonderful activities at your site or in your programs, register for a Project WILD Workshop, at Project WILD Workshops — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. For more information, or to set up a workshop in your area, please contact Kiki Corry at kiki.corry@tpwd.texas.gov.
|
|
Nature and Health Research Update |
As we approach the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey and are paying the price (literally) for the Texas freeze of 2021 and going in over two years of an infectious respiratory pandemic, we must take a look at how these types of events affect not only the entire city or region, but also focus on how these types of disasters effect the most vulnerable communities and populations in the area.
This article from the Kaiser Family Foundation, gives us the key questions and answers on climate change and how it has been linked to adverse health outcomes globally but also how it affects the most venerable communities and neighborhoods.
|
|
What We are Reading and Listening To |
Bird Brother: A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife - Great book, I highly recommend the audio version.
Water Connects - Article from LinkedIn
Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn for more resources
|
|
|
|
TCiNN Partner Job Postings |
As many of our friends and partners are looking for their next opportunity, we will share some postings that have been shared with us. Be sure to check out our Partner Job Postings Page throughout the year for postings as they come up.
|
|
|
|
A full list of upcoming grants is available on our Grants Resource page. Check it out regularly for any grants that have been shared with us. Here are a couple upcoming grant opportunities:
|
|
Upcoming Regional Meetings |
-
Austin: email Ashleigh to find out more
- Next meeting September 12
-
Coastal Bend: email April to find out more
- Next meeting September 15
-
Houston: email Robyn to find out more
- Next meeting August 26
-
North Texas: email Dustin to find out more
- Next Meeting June 29
-
Pineywoods: email Ted to find out more
-
Rio Grande Valley: email Marisa to find out more
- Next meeting September 27
-
San Antonio: email Thea to find out more
- Next Meeting September 24
|
|
Give to Texas Children in Nature Network |
|
|
You can support Texas Children in Nature Network and our work creating a state wide collaborative through an online gift |
|
|
|
|
|
|
