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Join VT SWEEP for the Rest of 2015 & ALL of 2016
for a Discounted Rate!
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Are you an environmental educator or someone who wants to improve environmental literacy across Vermont? Are you looking for a community of like-minded individuals and organizations to gain inspiration, professional development, and maybe some exciting new work? Then we want to hear from you. We are Vermont SWEEP (Statewide Environmental Education Programs), a nonprofit coalition whose mission is to promote a sustainable future by fostering exceptional environmental literacy work through our state and regional networks. SWEEP envisions a society that follows environmental sustainability principles for the well-being of humans and global ecosystems. Below you will find our most recent eNewsletter which outlines many of the amazing opportunities and activities of our members and member organizations
This fall, SWEEP is offering a discounted membership package that includes the remainder of this year (October, November, and December 2015) and all twelve months of 2016. This discounted package costs $70 for organizations, $30 for individuals, and $15 for students/interns. Our typical 12-month membership rates are $50 for organizations, $20 for individuals, and $10 for students/interns.
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“Expanded Learning Opportunities”
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 Table of Contents
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The Vermont SWEEP newsletter has gone digital!
Below you will find an assortment of updates, events, and resources gathered from the SWEEP community, for the SWEEP community. The theme of this enewsletter is “Expanded Learning Opportunities” because of the tremendous abundance of professional development and informal learning opportunities taking place in our state over the coming year.
For those who are new to SWEEP, here is a review of who we are and what we do.
About SWEEP: Our Strategic Framework
SWEEP is the Vermont State-Wide Environmental Education Programs, a nonprofit coalition of individuals and organizations whose mission is to promote a sustainable future by fostering exceptional environmental literacy work through our state and regional networks.
SWEEP envisions a society that follows environmental sustainability principles for the well-being of humans and global ecosystems.
SWEEP’s 5 Priorities
- Develop and implement a Sustainability and Environmental Literacy Plan
- Foster Collaborations and Partnerships
- Serve as Vermont’s Environmental Literacy Resource Hub
- Enhance SWEEP’s visibility, voice, and effectiveness
- Strengthen SWEEP’s core capacity
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Letter from the Co-Chair
OK, first let me catch my breath…It’s been a very busy year for SWEEP as we lay the foundation for an even busier year to come! SWEEP in 2015 – 2016 will be mainly defined by two large projects, each of which will help us achieve our 5 Priorities (see above). Both projects will be carried out through partnerships – one with Vermont Afterschool, Inc., and one with NEEEA – and represent significant new opportunities for SWEEP members.
Our partnership with Vermont Afterschool, Inc., invites SWEEP members to get involved in an array of activities that will bring environmental literacy and STEM education to informal educators in afterschool and summer programs. If your organization already works with these groups, this opportunity will allow you to expand your reach. If you’re interested in expanding your program offerings, here’s your chance to develop a new niche. An accompanying article on this project explains it in more depth.
As one member of NEEEA’s six-state alliance, SWEEP has received a grant to promote climate resilience in schools across the state. Through stories, we’ll describe how selected schools are implementing resource-saving practices and climate curricula to take active steps toward climate resilience. These stories and other climate education strategies will be featured at the April 2016 Climate Resilience Conference for educators in Vermont and the broader region. Look for an article in this enewsletter with more information on this project, as well as a Job Announcement that describes a part-time position to carry it out.
To guide our upcoming work, the SWEEP board has revised our Strategic Framework (see above). Please visit our website for updated information on our work and projects. It has a new look and a more user-friendly format, thanks to the Communications Committee. You can also find us on Facebook. Be sure to add vermontsweep@gmail.com to your contacts to ensure that you receive our emails!
As we prepare for a dynamic year, we welcome a new co-chair to our board. Alison (Ali) Thomas is the Education Coordinator in the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. She assumed this role last spring, when Heather Durkel stepped down as co-chair (thank you, Heather, for your service!). We are benefiting from Ali’s warmth and professionalism as she leads SWEEP’s Vermont Afterschool task force.
SWEEP is striving to become more relevant to our members and more effective in our work. If you’re currently a member, thank you for your participation and support! If you’re not a member, this is the year to join to get involved in SWEEP activities. We invite all of you (members and non-members) who are interested in Vermont’s environmental literacy work to attend our Fall Gathering on Sunday, October 25 from 10 am to 2:30 pm at the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington. We hope to see you there!
Wishing you a great autumn,
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SWEEP and Vermont Afterschool, Inc. Partnership
SWEEP has partnered with Vermont Afterschool Inc.to design and carry out a professional development training for afterschool providers and staff on incorporating environmental literacy into their programs.
Training description: Environmental Literacy in Action!
Environmental literacy is much more than knowing every tree or bird out in the woods! It’s about establishing a sense of place, building knowledge about the connections between humans and the natural world, and the confidence to explore environmental topics in a patch of trees, by the pond or right in the gym or schoolyard. This training is designed to give staff the understanding and skills needed to lead your own, partner with an expert, or embed an existing statewide environmental program. Build confidence leading groups informed by the “big ideas” linking us to nature. Experience tried and true, hands-on activities, tuned to the constraints and opportunities of afterschool programs even in winter. Walk away with the resources to identify local partners to assist you in developing quality environmental literacy experiences to your program.
Interested in being part of this initiative? There are several ways to get involved:
1. Put yourself and/or your organization on the regional map that will be shared with the training attendees as part of the resource guide provided at the end of the training. By being on this map you are letting the afterschool programs in your area (and across the state) know that you/your organization are willing to be contacted to help develop an environmental literacy program. To be included in the map, email Ali Thomas.
2. Become a trainer! Apply to be a trainer to facilitate the Environmental Literacy in Action! professional development training to afterschool providers in your region/across the state. Five hour training in two parts:
- 1 evening for 2 hours during the week and 1 Saturday morning for 3 hours OR 5 hours all on a Saturday
- Part A (2 hours) – Intro to Environmental Literacy: Definition, Modeling Facilitation, NGSS Integration and Case Studies
- Part B (3 hours) – Local Experiential Practice: VTSWEEP/Partnerships, Environmental Literacy’s Big Ideas and highlighted Science Practices, Existing vs. Custom-designed Curriculum, Environmental Literacy in the context of afterschool and summer learning
- Criteria for becoming a Trainer:
- Must be a member of VTSWEEP (or willing to join)
- Willing to follow the Part A two hour training outline
- Design the Part B three hour program
- Model experiential teaching through your selected content expertise
- Emphasize the NGSS Cross Cutting Concepts and model NGSS Science Practices
- Ability to work across multiple environmental topics (i.e. forest, fields, water, sustainability, etc.)
- Experience providing professional development training
- Willingness to become an independent contractor trainer or partner with Vermont Afterschool, Inc.
All applicants should consider attending the Vermont Afterschool Conference at the Stoweflake in Stowe on October 23, 2015 for a full day strand to launch the Environmental Literacy in Action! workshop.
For information on how to be involved or to apply to be a trainer, please contact Lauren Chicote or Ali Thomas.
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Climate Education Takes Center Stage
Today’s environmental educators must address climate change. This deeply complex global issue is the context for every lesson we teach, whether we make it explicit or not. Furthermore, our audiences are looking for guidance to help them navigate the decisions that must be made by individuals, communities, countries, and the world at large. We have the opportunity to step up as leaders in this arena, and many of us feel a responsibility to do so.
This year, SWEEP members will ramp up climate change education in Vermont to help people understand and take action on this vexing topic. As one of the six member states in NEEEA, SWEEP has received an EPA grant of $8,236 to advance climate change education. With these funds, SWEEP will profile selected schools that are implementing climate resilience practices (such as solar panels and energy efficiency measures) and teaching climate resilience curricula to their students. A sub-grant of $3,375 will go to Shelburne Farms to find these schools and write a case study on each.
These school stories will be featured at the Vermont Climate Resilience Conference onSaturday, April 9, 2016 to inspire climate resilience actions in other schools across the state and the broader region. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux will be our distinguished keynote speaker. She is the Vermont State Climatologist and Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Vermont. In September, SWEEP will hire a conference coordinator to facilitate this effort. (Please see the Climate Conference Coordinator Job Announcement for details about this position).
Through this work, SWEEP will elevate the conversation about climate change and energize action to address it. This initiative needs a cohesive, motivated network of Vermont educators ready to get to work. Please join our effort! For more information, contact Jenna Guarino.
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NEEEA receives $81,000 Climate Education Grant from U.S. EPA
The SWEEP board of directors worked with our colleagues in other New England states and the NEEEA Executive Director, Adrian Ayson, to develop a comprehensive, region-wide proposal focused on professional development to foster climate change education. Here’s a summary of each state’s specific project:
Connecticut: Taking Action on Climate Change.Project: A series of environmental education focus group workshops in 2015, culminating in a 2016 statewide conference. Goal: To show that climate change can be understandable to all ages and to highlight personal actions taken by individuals that reduce impacts that lead to climate change.
Maine: Climate Change/Behavior Change. Project: A summit in March 2016 as a followup to the fall 2014 Better Together Summit, during which participants identified climate change and community-level actions as a major area of concern. Goal: To challenge and provoke Maine’s environmental education professionals to integrate behavior-change strategies into their programming.
Massachusetts: The Language of Climate Change. Project: A summit in March 2016 to explore avenues of climate change communication. Goal: To tackle the question, “How do we bring about a behavioral shift when teaching, talking or communicating climate change science?”
New Hampshire: Climate of Change. Project: A train-the-trainer program to implement community workshops. Goal: To develop better relationships among local Conservation Commission members, K-12 teachers, and environmental educators to understand how to talk about climate change to diverse audiences.
Rhode Island: Building Climate Change Education. Project: A day-long workshop for design/build professionals, co-sponsored by the RI Chapter of the US Green Building Council. Goal: To better understand the realities of climate change and the direct and dispersed benefits of creating green, healthy schools.
Vermont: Climate Resilience in Schools and Communities. Project: A collection of case studies on schools implementing climate resilience practices and curricula, and an associated day-long conference in April 2016. Goal: To help create action steps for greater school and community involvement in climate resilience efforts.
SWEEP will send an educator to four of these state events. For more information on the NEEEA program or any of these state projects, please contact Jenna Guarino.
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Conference Coordinator Position Announcement
SWEEP is hiring a part-time environmental educator to coordinate our upcoming Climate Resilience Conference, a day-long event on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Conference participants will be formal and nonformal educators interested in climate education and environmental literacy. The coordinator will work up to 90 hours for a total of $2,025. The position begins in October 2015 and concludes in late April 2016. The Climate Education Task Force, comprised of SWEEP board members, will work with and supervise this position. The deadline to apply is September 25. Click here for a list of position responsibilities, qualifications, and how to apply.
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Staff Updates from Four Winds Nature Institute
Four Winds bids a fond farewell to naturalist-educator Karen Murphy who retired this summer. For the past 25 years, Karen has shared her love of learning and of nature with adult volunteers working in schools across southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Karen and her husband Shaun live, garden, and create community in Guilford, VT.
Emily Pals of Putney, VT has joined the staff of the Four Winds Nature Institute and will be leading Nature Program and Knee High Nature workshops in southeastern Vermont. After earning an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University, Emily joined the teaching and residential faculty at The Greenwood School, where she taught for nine years. Emily is eager to again be teaching environmental education and looks forward to spending more time outside learning and exploring with her family.
Four Winds educator Cory Stephenson will be joining the faculty of Pacem School, an intellectually inspiring, joyful learning community in Montpelier, VT. At this state-recognized, full-time independent 6-12th grade school and home-school collaborative for ages 10-18, Cory will embark on a new adventure teaching the wonders of the human body to middle school science students.
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Vermont Afterschool Conference
October 23, 2015
Stoweflake Mountain Resort, Stowe, VT
$150 if registered before 10/1
The Vermont Afterschool Conference is an annual event that brings together hundreds of expanded learning programs, partners, advocates, and educators from around the state for a full day of learning, networking, and celebration. In addition to keynote speaker Leslie Beller and 25 interactive workshops, this year will feature the full-day STEM strand Environmental Literacy in Action. Led by members of SWEEP, the workshop will emphasize hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that connect kids with their natural world and help them learn important ecological concepts. Registration is online and open to anyone who works with K-12 youth in out-of-school time programs, informal learning settings, and community partner organizations.
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Registration Now Open for NEEEA 2015 Climate of Change Conference
The New Hampshire Environmental Educators and the New England Environmental Education Alliance are thrilled to host Climate of Change – the 2015 New England Environmental Education Conference on Sunday – Tuesday, November 8-10, 2015 in Waterville Valley, NH.
The climate around us is changing, but not just the Earth’s climate. Environmental education is also in a state of flux in response to changes in formal education, social engagement, energy and communications. At Climate of Change we will bring together scientists, communications experts, educators, students and others to discuss and share ideas around four key strands:
- Climate Change
- The Changing Climate of Environmental Education
- The Evolution of the Environmental Movement
- Environmental Challenges of Today and Tomorrow
Click here for more information and to register.
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Northern Woodlands Writers and Readers Conference and Outside Story Exhibition
On the weekend of October 16-18, Northern Woodlands and the Hulbert Outdoor Center will again be hosting a “ Writers and Readers Conference,” sponsored by The Trust for Public Land. This is the conference’s second year (read all about last year’s event in the fall issue of Here in Hanover), and the organizers hope to make it a continuing resource in the Upper Valley. The conference focuses on how writers, artists and educators express the rich forest heritage of the Northeast: both the nature of our region and the interactions between people and place.
Professional development certificates will be available. There will be a range of activity options, including an educator panel discussion led by place-based education authority David Sobel, Saturday plenary talks by authors Peter Forbes, David Macaulay and Bernd Heinrich, writer’s workshops and nature talks on fun topics such as bears, bark identification and cougars. Teachers may be especially interested in the nature illustration class (co-taught byAdelaide Tyrol and Nona Estrin) and a workshop co-led by children’s book author Anita Sanchez and illustrator Robin Brickman. There will be fun extras as well – syrup tasting, s’mores, even an open mic session for the very brave. Day rates available, as well as overnight lodging. Please see Northern Woodlands’ event page for a full schedule and registration information, or call 802-439-6292 and ask for Emily.
On that same weekend, Saturday October 17, the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont will open a one-month exhibition featuring Adelaide Tyrol’s Outside Storyillustrations. The Outside Story weekly ecology series, funded by the Wellborn Ecology Fund, has been going strong since 2002. The Montshire exhibition features a sampling of some of Tyrol’s favorite works from the series, and her other fine artwork. For more information, including updated information on related activities, click here.
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New Online Publication from Four Winds Nature Institute
Four Winds is delighted to announce the online publication of a new book, Nearby Nature! With background essays on dozens of natural science topics and seasonally-based learning activities to engage students in place-based science, Nearby Nature! is designed to get children and adults outside together learning and exploring all year long. Thanks to generous support from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust, Four Winds educators are creating these new lessons to support the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core, with nature as the hook. Are you a teacher looking for ideas to kick off a new instructional unit you’re developing given the NGSS? Are you an educator leading outdoor investigations with elementary school children? Are you a parent wanting to nurture a child’s sense of wonder and sense of place? You are invited to explore Nearby Nature! online here.
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B-WET Watershed Science Training for Educators
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will hold free one-day teacher training workshops in watershed science on September 25 on the Boquet River in Willsboro, NY and October 2 at the Mississiquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT. During each workshop for teachers, environmental educators, and graduate students, LCMM and partnering institutions will demonstrate techniques and resources that educators can use to engage students with hands-on experience in evaluating the health of local waters. Click here to learn more.
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Web of Learning Opportunities from Four Winds Nature Institute’s Knee High Nature Program
My son and I are reading Charlotte’s Web right now, and I am struck by its theme of connectedness. Wilbur, the pig, and Charlotte, the spider, are an unlikely pair. Yet their connection to one another saves Wilbur’s life, and he, in turn insures that Charlotte’s babies remain safe. Charlotte’s very web is a metaphor for the ways in which our lives are woven together and thus strengthened. It’s for this reason, the Four Winds Nature Institute’s Knee High Nature Professional Learning Communities for early childhood professionals promote connections both over time and with varied groups of professionals.
For the past two years, first in partnership with Shelburne Farms and the North Branch Nature Center, and now on its own, Four Winds has facilitated Authentic Nature Play Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s). These PLC’s bring both public and private early childhood professionals together for two-hour sessions over a period of at least seven months to learn about, discuss and make changes in practice around providing young children with the time and space to play in natural settings. Participants come from public preschools and kindergartens, home daycares, nature centers, Head Start, afterschool programs and private centers, and they focus on such topics as play space design, the adult role, measuring the learning, benefits versus risks and health connections of authentic nature play. We’ll begin a new PLC at the end of September in Bethel. If you, or any early childhood professionals are interested, you can learn more here.
The success of the PLC’s lead us to facilitate an Authentic Nature Play PLC Leadership Institute this past year as well. Eight early childhood education professionals from both public and private settings from around the state joined together to learn how to facilitate PLC’s in their own communities. We met with these dedicated professionals three times over the course of the year, and provided them with resources and training related to nature play and adult group facilitation. Our hope is that each of them will lead 7-month or longer PLC’s in their own communities, thus continuing to build an authentic nature play and Four Winds web across the state.
Jen Brown, Four Winds Nature Institute Teacher/Naturalist
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Hildene Announces Innovative Agricultural Collaboration with Burr and Burton Academy
What happens when a historic site with roots in the past commits to putting new roots, literally and figuratively, in the good earth for the future. The short answer is great things! This is exactly what is happening on Hildene’s sixty acre River Road meadow known as Dene Farm. Following years of planning and discussion, Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, considered to be the most important Lincoln site outside of Springfield, Illinois, has entered into an innovative agricultural collaboration with Burr and Burton Academy. High school students now work on the land in ways that make their study of science, economics, food systems, and sustainability much more compelling than it would be in a traditional classroom setting. Experiential learning of this kind is the future of education. Hildene believes that the new initiative brings vibrancy to its mission Values into Action, while at the same time, the presence of students and the opportunity to learn from farm, forestry and conservation efforts, enriches te experience of the tens of thousands of guests who visit Hildene each year.
Already well known for its robust roster of school programs for elementary age students focused on environmental education on topics from bees to butterflies, spiders to streams, and wetlands to working lands, this endeavor brings Hildene ever closer to its goal of reaching across all levels of education including middle school, high school, college and the general adult population.
Hildene’s partnership with Burr and Burton begins this semester. Already complete is fencing that will house farm animals next spring and a walking path around the farm’s perimeter that also provides access to the wetlands, floating boardwalk, and songbird sanctuary. Construction of a 160′ by 30′ teaching greenhouse and large bin composting system will be completed by early November. A twenty-first century classroom will be built in the farm’s nineteenth century barn and the high school program will be fully operational. While these facilities will be in use by students, the Dene and what is going on there will also be experienced daily by Hildene’s guests thus exponentially spreading the word about the importance of conservation and sustainability.
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Upper Valley Farm to School is Valley Farm Fresh!
Valley Farm Fresh is a new buy local campaign that promotes our local farms and their delicious fresh foods, provides recipes and cooking tips for local food, and connects us all to farm-related happenings around the region. Our Valley Food & Farm Guide is a great resource for educators to help you find your fall farm field trip and aid you in the procurement of local food for your school lunch program. You could be a Valley Farm Fresh school!
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New In-Class Workshop: Modeling Climate Science
This workshop helps students in grades 6-8 develop their understanding of factors that have caused a rise in global temperatures over the past century, with an emphasis on the major role that human activities play. It incorporates NGSS practices and core ideas in an engaging hands-on lesson that guides students in collecting evidence and formulating a claim about the relationship between greenhouse gases and temperature. Put on by Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP), this workshop takes place in your school or organization and, thanks to funding from Efficiency Vermont, the first workshop is free. Learn more here.
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New Middle-School Curriculum: Climate Change: Understanding and Engagement
An integrated, hands-on, evidence-based science curriculum, in which middle school students practice the process of science and see examples of how data is used to reach a scientific conclusion. The curriculum, lasting 4-10 weeks, contains four sections – engaging students in climate change, carbon emissions and human activity, making meaning through models, and working towards a solution. VEEP offers custom onsite trainings for any number of teachers on request and kits of all materials needed. Call 802-552-8450, email, or click here for more information.
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Radon Poster Contest
The Vermont Department of Health is sponsoring the 3rd annual Radon Poster Contest. This contest promotes education about radon and raises awareness among those who see the posters. This is a great activity for science classes with students between the ages of 9 to 14. The deadline for submission to the Radon Program is October 31, 2015. For details, contact Marielle Strong by phone: 802-865-7742 or by email.
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New Professional Development Course: Three-Dimensional Learning in Energy Literacy
In this Vermont Energy Education Program course, teachers will be trained to create learning opportunities using energy as the core disciplinary idea, integrating energy literacy, engineering design, and the three-dimensional learning of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Programming will be dynamic and responsive to teachers’ needs, including exploration of NGSS, co-teaching of several VEEP in-class energy workshops with VEEP educators, individualized classroom support, and follow-up training on planning and assessing energy lessons/units using the EQuIP Rubric. Teachers may use VEEP materials and kits free of charge during the school year in which they take this course.
Cost: Vermont teacher subsidized rate: $500 with 15 professional development hours or $700 with 1 graduate credit (pending from JSC). Out of state teachers: $2000 with 15 professional development hours or $2200 with 1 graduate credit (pending) plus VEEP travel expenses. Scholarships and group discounts available.
Call 802-552-8450, email, or click here for more information.
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Rubenstein School Hires 6 New Faculty
After very competitive and rigorous searches this past spring, the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources is delighted to announce the hiring of six new faculty members. This is an exciting time for the School and a watershed moment in our history.
Four new faculty will join our Environmental Program under the theme of Sustainability Studies and Global Environmental Equity. Dr. Brendan Fisher has been Research Associate Professor at the Rubenstein School and the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. Dr. Fisher’s research addresses how environmental change and management affect human well-being and health with a better understanding of human behavioral impacts on social, economic, and ecological sustainability. Dr. Rachelle Gould will focus on sustainability values, well-being, policy, and behavior. Her research examines how nature improves well-being in nonmaterial ways. Trish O’Kane will focus on sustainability education and communication. She brings an investigative journalism background and her research focuses on social justice, including civil, environmental, and human rights. Dr. Bindu Panikkar will focus on environmental health and well-being. Her research combines social sciences with environmental health and policy, natural resources management, and environmental sustainability and justice.
We welcome two more faculty members. Dr. Eric Roy will join our Environmental Sciences program with a focus on Ecological Design of Sustainable Systems. His research combines environmental and ecological engineering with ecological design, ecosystem ecology, food systems, and sustainability. Dr. Kristine Stepenuck will join the Rubenstein School as an Extension Assistant Professor, with most activities focused on the Lake Champlain Sea GrantOutreach program, as well as teaching and research. Her research focuses on evaluating natural resource management and policy outcomes, especially the empowerment of citizen science.
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