No excuses.

We are living in an amazing time right now. Some might say that it is a time of uncertainty, others might say it is a time of change while others might say that it is a time of hope, but the thing is…no matter how it is described, one thing is certain…we live in a time where anything is possible.

Our society, our world, is changing at lightening speed. Think of your lives now as compared to your parents or even grandparents when they were your age. Did you know that 60% of the jobs that the kindergarteners of today will hold have not even been thought of or created yet? Did you know that as we speak, work is underway to create even smaller telephones and smaller computers to work at even faster speeds. The time-space continuum that we live in today is shrinking allowing us to have instant access of information for any topic at any time. Because of this, we have no excuses. We have no excuses to not make choices that lend themselves to make a positive difference…we have no excuses to not lend a helping hand to our neighbors… We have no excuses to not take advantage of anything that comes our way to create a better society…

Just over five years ago, our school district took advantage of an incredible opportunity in the hopes of creating a better society…for you, for me, and for our future. At that time, a non-profit organization, the Jeffers Foundation, approached our school district inquiring as to whether we would be interested in starting an environmental education program.

The Jeffers Foundation, formed in March of 2005 for the purpose “to provide for direct primary education and the development of primary education principles, models, and curricula aimed at teaching young persons the value of wise stewardship of natural resources, the need to maintain a balance between population and the resources available to sustain and nourish it, and the means and methods which will ensure conservation and preservation of natural resources for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” We entered into a five year partnership with the Jeffers Foundation, and my current position, District Environmental Education Coordinator, as well as a District Naturalist position was created.

Initially focused at Five Hawks Elementary, where environmental education was alive and strong thanks in part to the 40 acres of land preserved behind the building devoted to an Outdoor Learning Classroom as well as the dedication of the staff, the first year was spent determining the direction and focus of the program. Based upon research that indicates if children do not have a connection with the environment by the time they are eleven, it is doubtful that an authentic connection will ever exist, it was agreed that the concentration for the first couple of years of our program would be at the elementary level.

But why environmental education? Remember that shrinking time-space continuum I mentioned earlier? Well, it has gotten so crazy that it is effecting our daily schedules. We are not getting outdoors enough…we are not taking the nature breaks our bodies need…the effects are beginning to have detrimental consequences on us. Such outcomes include diminished use of our senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. According to a report generated by the organization, Children and Nature, in 2008, “obesity, attention deficit disorder, impaired social skills and what can be characterized as a culture of depression are adding to the stress levels and severely impacting our youth.”

The good news though is that even in our crazy busy lives and diminished time-space continuum, we can make a choice for change that will make us better…make us healthy. Remember? No excuses. In a report issued by Steven Kellert in 2005, he noted that experience in nearby nature, is linked to shaping children’s cognitive maturation, including the developed abilities of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In other words…getting outdoors and experiencing it can make you smarter! Think about it…what do you remember most from past classes…when you read about a topic, when you talked about a topic, or when you got your hands dirty messing around and experiencing the topic?

And there are even more studies and research to prove this…a study in California in 2005 showcased that students utilizing outdoor classrooms and other forms of nature-based experiential education were associated with significant gains in social studies, language arts, math and of course science. ..another study conducted by Kaplan and Kaplan in 1989 and again in 1995 had psychologists linking contact with nature to restored attention, the promotion of recovery from mental fatigue and enhanced mental focus. They attribute these beneficial qualities to the sense of fascination of being immersed in a whole other world and to other restorative influences of the natural world.

Other studies illustrate a positive impact on self-esteem, decreased disciplinary issues, higher levels of cooperation and civility, increased motivation, opportunities to see real life connections, and the engagement of multiple senses…all from spending time outdoors and/or learning in an environmentally focused way.

During the past five years, our program has moved into each of the K-12 schools creating an impact and direction that I’m fairly certain no one thought possible. Programs such as the food waste program where students separate food waste for collection for reuse as hog food and the recycling program at all district buildings, have helped to save tens of thousands of dollars from literally going to ‘waste’ to be reallocated to other areas of need.

The Junior Naturalist and EcoTEAM programs, found at each of the K-12 school buildings, provide leadership opportunities for students to be advocates for environmental stewardship and sustainability. These programs give our students a voice and a platform from which to be heard…what an empowering thing! Approximately 200 students and 18 staff members throughout the district are directly involved with this program…and this number grows every year.

Our connection with Community Education allows us to offer after school classes and summer camps devoted to experiencing and learning about the environment. Children as young as 3 and as old as 83 are able to get outdoors, take the brain break they need from being plugged into electronic media, and gain perspective on what is truly important.

The elementary science curriculum was reconstituted four years ago allowing for environmental education and outdoor learning lessons to be built right into the curriculum. Sites at each of the schools are being transformed into outdoor learning areas. Two of our district schools are designated School Forests with the MN DNR, and three more are in the process. Three of our schools have designated native grass prairies and two more are in the process of getting such an area. We are a unique district to be able to create such areas on site.

Teachers are taking students outdoors for real life experiential lessons. Students are able to make immediate connections and application from what they are learning in school to real life. This information is taken in, consumed, and expressed through choices that make a positive difference creating a better society.

Our program also extends into the community. Not funded with any district dollars until the 2010-2011 school year, all programs and positions for the EE program were funded through grants and donations. Partners such as the Jeffers Foundation, our Community Education program, the Prior Lake-Savage Area Educational Foundation, the DNR, the Prior Lake Spring Lake Watershed District, the Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the city of Savage and the city of Prior Lake…as well as companies such as Dow Chemical, Toro and dozens more have helped to fund our program over the years. These organizations and the people that work within them are making a choice to invest in a better society….so they choose to invest in us…and in turn investing in you.

Our district is leading the revolution for environmental education integration. It is more than just a t-shirt slogan around here to ‘go green’…and it means so much more. There is no other district in our state that has a Coordinator position on staff. There is no other district in our state that partners with their cities to create and maintain outdoor learning areas dedicated for educational purposes…think about the McColl Pond ELC…a multi-million dollar facility showcasing choices and decisions that create a better society and we are able to use it at no cost for educational purposes. There is no other district in our state that has embedded environmental education into their staff development program like we have. There is no other district in our state that has a focus of environmental education running through the mission statement, strategic plan, and even the logo.

Schools from around MN as well as surrounding states have come to tour our facilities, examine our curriculum and interview teachers in order to replicate our program at their sites. Environmental and governmental agencies are seeking us out and providing us with funds and experiential opportunities for our students and staff. We’ve helped restore native grass areas, tapped trees for maple syruping, created animal habitat, conducting soil sampling, and so much more….all under the context of learning.

We are even working with local colleges and universities to help them alter their pre-service training and course regime in order to incorporate more outdoor learning and experiential based programs. We have created the partnership with St. Catherine University under the guise of EcoSTARS….Students, Teachers and Real Science. This program has been showcased to other state colleges and universities throughout the state and nation!

In June 2009, our district hosted the MN Association for Environmental Educators statewide workshop and conference. Hundreds of formal and informal environmental educators from around the state convened here, in Prior Lake and Savage to see first-hand what we are doing to create a better society.

The recognition and awareness of our program does not stop at the state border.

Four years ago, two of our elementary staff were chosen from hundreds of applications from around the world to travel to Alaska to partake in a training with scientists and other educators. Out of the 40 educators present, our teachers were the only elementary teachers and were only 2 of 5 educators from the United States.

In 2009, a national magazine, Backpacker, contacted me. They had heard about our program from a professor at the University of MN, Duluth and were highlighting the communities of Prior Lake and Savage as one of the top places to raise outdoor kids in the whole nation as a result of our district’s EE program.

The thing is though…all of these accolades, all of this time, energy and commitment that has been put into creating and maintaining a rich and in theory – effective program, does not mean anything unless action by you and from you happens. The action that I am talking about is the type of action that allows you to make the choice to create a positive difference…to lend a helping hand…to create a better society. And the best news is, these actions are EASY! Remember, no excuses.

Although we each have different beliefs, habits, values and experiences…it does not matter…there is one thing that unites us and that is our requisite, our basic human need, to have an earth that sustains and supports us. We cannot continue to exist unless we nourish the soil we stand on and the trees that surround us. We cannot survive if we do not take care of the air we breathe and the water we drink. For as much as government can and must do, teachers and parents model and preach, it is ultimately up to you. My hope is that you choose resourcefulness over wastefulness… reclamation over deterioration…energy wise over energy waste.

I’d like to share some thoughts from Robert Kennedy. This was taken from a speech that he delivered in 1966 to students at Berkley, California. “You live in the most privileged nation on earth. You are the most privileged citizens of that privileged nation; for you have been given the opportunity to study and learn, to take your place among the tiny minority of the world's educated men. By coming to this school you have been lifted onto a tiny, sunlit island while all around you lies an ocean of human misery, injustice, violence, and fear. You can use your enormous privilege and opportunity to seek purely private pleasure and gain. But history will judge you, and, as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, on the extent to which you have used your gifts to lighten and enrich the lives of your fellow man. In your hands, not with presidents or leaders, is the future of your world and the fulfillment to the best qualities of your own spirit.”

Remember. No excuses.