Tag: Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education

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MAEOE 2020: The Shore

In February I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the 2020 MAEOE conference: Exploring Connections: Linking Nature, People, and Mindfulness.

The conference committee reached out and asked if I was interested in creating the logo for the conference, of course I said YES!  Art, nature, people, and mindfulness are all passions of mine. It was such a fun project to work on, and they asked me to create the logo again for next year’s convention: Climate, Nature, People and Education: It’s All Connected.

February 6-9, 2020, the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education brought together educators, resource personnel, scientists and researchers to share their experiences and ideas at the Princess Royale in Ocean City, MD. The weather was all rainy and cloudy most of the time, but we had a nice sunny day and a beautiful clear sky for a beautiful full moon.

The weekend began on Thursday with breakfast at the Bayside Skillet, it was delicious and hugemongous!  Perfect for keeping my fueled for the amazing Leopold Educational Program workshop. Peggy Eppig shared with us the land ethic and conservation education of Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold was an American author, philosopher, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac, which has sold more than two million copies.  

This full day workshop was full of learning and inspirational moments. We first went outside to the beach to spend time in nature. The beach provided a moment of clarity as well as discovery, of self and the world around me.

Learning about land ethics was a transformative moment for me. I am ever grateful for what Peggy shared with us that day.  I see another layer to my being and how it all connects to the path of knowledge of self.  Creative expression is simply a part of the whole. Our interconnectedness to all of creation is the energy, stewardship is the interaction of our connectedness…the product is beauty and love through creative expression.

Friday was a day of  hands-on sessions. One session I attended that day was taught me how to dye with natural plants. We experimented with cranberries, turmeric, and onions to name a few. I was excited to take it back to school and share it with my students!

Friday was also full of social time! I love that MAEOE schedules in time for us to network and mingle. We had lunch, a first timers meeting, and happy hour! I also created a banner for people to fill in with their intentions for the conference! It turned out so cool!

Fridays field experience was a trip to the Indian River Lifesaving Station. That place showed me the shore in a whole new light.

Saturday sessions were jam packed and the exhibit hall was super busy. There was a silent auction in which I won a few things!  Then we had a social dance costume party in the ballroom. MAEOE had an Eco Superhero contest that Ridgely entered! My green club students turned me into Rainebow Earth Brite! The kids made everything from recycled materials! My motto was I turn litter into glitter and trashy into flashy! We didn’t win the contest, however it was SUPER fun!

I left on Sunday after a morning meditation.

The shore gave me clarity and peace, to my center and on my journey in this life.

 

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Earth Education Green Lifestyle Most Popular

BCPS Green Summit

The 2019 BCPS Green Summit was a wonderful learning experience! The Office of Science always puts together informative sessions.

I learned about what Lutherville Lab, one of our schools feeder elementary schools, has done with their green club and how they were able to turn an area of their school into an outdoor classroom environment! A fellow BCPS art teacher taught us how to make bug hotels from paper straws and recycled plastic bottles. I also received pet poop bags to hand out to our local community members who bring their dogs to play in the fields behind out school, reminding them to SCOOP THE POOP every stinkin’ time!

I am so grateful to be apart of such an amazing county that offers so many opportunities to continue to learn.

Migwetch

Raine Dawn

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Art Earth Education Green Lifestyle Most Popular Revealing Treasures in your Own Backyard

Full STEAM Ahead

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I recently attended the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education annual conference in Towson Maryland. This was my first MAEOE conference, and I’m excited to bring more teachers next year!

The conference theme was Full Steam Ahead, Expanding the Potential of Environmental Education.  It was wonderful to see so much integration between the arts and sciences.

I attended a painting workshop, where we talked about how to create art as an expression of ourselves, while learning techniques to be successful in the aesthetics of the artwork.

The Watershed Charter school executive director Jessie Lehson presented Growing Art through Farming, the intersection of art and agriculture. We learned to make pastels from rocks, and cut turkey feathers into quill pens.

There was an amazing presentation called When Wonder Wins, discussing how important it is to intentionally incorporate wonder into our lives.  In doing so, we are role models for our students so that they too will use the world around them to be inspired to keep growing and following their passions.

I really enjoyed the Earth Powers and Forest bathing lightening session.  Two sessions in one hour, where we discussed allowing kids to explore nature and tap in with their creative mind. We also discussed how to take moments our of our day to spend time in nature mindfully noticing our reactions and responses to outside stimuli.

Restorative Practices was by far the best session I attended, and all of the session I went to were amazing.  Dave Dahl,  from NorthBay Adventure Camp, spoke about using restorative practices and teaching out children using the M.A.E.C.E. method. Mindfulness, Awareness, Empathy, Compassion, and Engage. We participated in hands on team building activities to build relationships with one another in our 2 hour session. We discussed the self determination theory, Carl Rogers, and Dr. Dan Siegel who wrote The Whole-Brain Child.

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This conference was a wonderful learning experience and I am excited about next year!

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Divine I Am Earth Education Existence Revealing Treasures in your Own Backyard

Chesapeake Watershed Forum

Last weekend I had the privilege to attend the Chesapeake Watershed Forum at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown West Virginia, on the Potomac River.

 

A while back when I decided to take on the green school coordinator position for my school, I went into research mode so that I could find opportunities to learn more about what it means to be a green school. I found the forum through the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education.  It sounded very interesting and there was a scholarship being given so I registered and applied.  I received the acceptance email on my birthday!

I was very excited to be attending something new and getting to learn more about how I can help our water and our land. I never expected what the weekend actually had in store…learning, networking and new perspective on my life’s path.

I have always been drawn to the water, and earth. My grandmother was a woman of the earth… Ojibwe are plains Indians and spend a lot of time with the land so it runs in my blood. This weekend I really began to understand how land and water conservation is vital to protecting the ecosystems around us.

The NCTC has a beautiful campus, great facilities and delicious food! The staff was friendly, helpful and polite.

 

The forum is presented by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay along with many other amazing non-profits such as Chesapeake Bay Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the National Park Service.

I received my scholarship from the Chesapeake Bay Trust,

The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a nonprofit grant-making organization dedicated to improving the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Coastal Bays, and Youghiogheny River. Created in 1985 by the Maryland General Assembly, our goal is to increase stewardship through grant programs, special initiatives, and partnerships that support K-12 environmental education, on-the ground watershed restoration, community engagement, and the underlying science of these three realms. Through our grants, the Trust engages hundreds of thousands of students and volunteers in projects that have a measurable impact on the natural resources of our region.  Grantees include schools, local governments, community groups, faith-based groups, watershed organizations, and other not-for-profit entities.

 

I am so thankful for the opportunity to grow as an educator and as an earth conscious individual. I learned about testing water with ALLARM, surveying the areas around the water to look for specific things that tell if the water quality will be balanced. I also learned about MWEE’s, Environmental Education, and a lot of grants that are available! Shore Rivers and Anacostia Watershed were also there sharing their journey and progress with educating citizen scientists to amazing projects happening in Washington D.C.

 

The people who attended the forum were all very inviting and accepting. Everyone was really kind and open to sharing and helping. The networking at this forum was so beneficial and I think I’ve even made a few new friends.

 

There was a LOT of art here as well, which made me super happy! They had a “poster contest” to show off information about successful projects.

 

The forum started out with art, and cognitive mapping. We were each asked to create a map of the place that makes us want to work with conserving the land and water.  I drew the blue heron I see at Gunpowder Falls.

 

There were other small installations such as the #bethelight and #postsecret.

 

This was a great experience, there should definitely be more teachers in attendance, and it will be great to see more educational sessions next year! Thank you again to everyone for hosting and presenting such a wonderful forum.

Migwetch <3
Raine Dawn