Please join the VT SWEEP Board, Members and Community for our Fall Membership Gathering at the beautiful Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington! In addition to our usual networking opportunities, business updates, and delicious pot-luck meal provided by the SWEEP board, we will share inspiring stories from the field on how environmental education programs are helping students navigate the future during these uncertain times. Registration is free and open to all members. We encourage perspective members to join us as well to learn more about VT SWEEP!

A detailed agenda will be shared soon. Please register by sending an RSVP to bethany@vermontsweep.org.

A professional development workshop for continuing and new SWEEP members by Coleen O’Connell, Board Member of SWEEP and NEEEA.

As Environmental Educators, we are on the forefront of building a healthy relationship with the natural world. Yet the many negative issues coming down around us can take an emotional toll. This workshop will allow us to support one another in uncertain times and serve as an important professional check-in. How are we doing? How can we keep showing up for our work with a clear spirit and a positive vision?

The Work that Reconnects is an experiential workshop that supports participants with tools and techniques. You will have the opportunity to chat with others, serve as a compassionate listener, and share your current concerns for the world. We will sing when appropriate, we will move, we may take time in silence. Coleen will guide the group through meditations supportive of holding hope, finding strength, clarifying purpose, and remembering our unfailing inter-connectedness with all of life. Generally, people leave this workshop with renewed energy and a deeper commitment to their purpose.

Coleen O’Connell has been an Environmental Educator for the past 40 years. She is on the faculty of the Ecological Teaching and Learning MS Program at Lesley University. The Work That Reconnects was developed by Joanna Macy, an eco-philosopher and Buddhist Activist. It is a critical practice that has guided Coleen throughout her career.  She has been facilitating this work for the past 15 years and offers this day of retreat to the Vermont SWEEP community.

Workshop fee: $70, which includes an individual SWEEP membership for calendar year 2018. $50 if you are already an individual, student, or organizational 2018 member. $50 if you require financial assistance to attend; includes an individual 2018 SWEEP membership. Morning refreshments and a wholesome lunch will be provided. (Please note: We don’t want to turn anyone away. If you require further financial assistance to attend, please let us know when you register.)

Please register by Wednesday, November 8 by contacting Rob Anderegg, SWEEP Treasurer, rob.anderegg@outlook.com.

SWEEP Member Special: members receive 15% off registration for this event! Register here with special offer code SWEEPMEMBER at check-out. Act now: this event is filling fast!

Enjoy a fun, informal weekend with the Northern Woodlands crew at the Hulbert Outdoor Center on Lake Morey, while engaging with writers, scientists, artists and educators. Writing workshops, natural history presentations, woods walks and more!

Click Here to Register

Plenary Speakers Include:

• David George Haskell, professor at the University of the South and author of The Songs of Trees (2017) and The Forest Unseen (2012), winner of multiple book awards and finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction
• Thomas D. Seeley, Horace White Professor of Biology, Cornell University and author of Honeybee Democracy and Following the Wild Bees
• Julie Zickefoose, artist, writer and naturalist, author of Letters from Eden, The Bluebird Effect, and Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest

Click Here to Learn More.

The theme for our Fall/Winter eNewsletter goes along with the theme of our special workshop, The Work that Reconnects. The many negative issues around environmental education work takes a huge emotional toll. How do you find support in these uncertain times? How do you keep showing up with a positive attitude? In addition to sharing about your professional work, we invite you to share a few paragraphs about your personal experience maintaining hope in the face of great hardship.

Please submit your materials no later than Wednesday, September 27 to Emily Rowe: Emily@northernwoodlands.org. The eNewsletter will be published October 4.

Please include photos whenever possible! Articles about any other aspects of your work are also very welcome. Please follow these guidelines to help us streamline the creation process:

• Send your text submission as an attachment in Word document format. PDF accompanying word doc with explanation also ok.
• Clearly label photo submissions with your name and/or organization.
• Please label each of your submissions as: Article, Events, Resources, News, or Other.
• Please make submissions “Publication-Ready,” requiring no/minimal editing.

Thank you!