COURTESY OF VERMONT SWEEP
Spring / Summer eNewsletter
Table of Contents
From the Board Letter from the Chair
SWEEP Spring Membership Gathering
SWEEP Welcomes New Board Members
SWEEP Membership Renewals
Climate Resiliency & Featured Articles
Climate Resiliency Fellowship & Vermont SWEEP Spring Gathering
Restorative Practices Increase School Resiliency
The Health of Vermont’s Future Hardwood Forests is At Risk
News
Spring News From Four Winds Nature Institute
A New Book by Lynn Levine
A New Home for Northern Woodlands
A New Book by Michael Caduto
Events
BioBlitz 2018: One Wild Weekend
April Events at Birds of Vermont Museum
Volunteers Needed for Vermont Envirothon 2018
Save the Date for the Northern Woodlands Conference
Two Summer Institutes with the Vermont Energy Education Program
One-Day Trainings on Electricity, Renewables, and Climate Change for Educators
April and May Events in Grafton, VT with The Nature Museum
Spring Bird Walks with Winooski Valley Park District
Employment
The Nature Museum Seeks Seasonal Environmental Educator
The Nature Museum Seeks Museum Docent
NAAEE’s National Job Search Database
Resources
Consulting Services Available at Discounted Rates to SWEEP Members
Educational Resources About Climate Change
Free Digital Magazine for Teachers and Students
Sharing Corner
Protecting the Vermont Outdoors
From the Board
Letter from the Chair
I’ve opened my window a bit to allow some fresh air to seep in. It still looks like winter out there, but the snow is dirty and stale and melting fast. Happy spring in Vermont!
This year, SWEEP is focusing on resilience. The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit defines climate resilience as:
The capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption.
At this time of year, nature models resilience as it recovers from the yearly “disruption” of cold and snow. Soon, photosynthesizers will respond to the warming sun by displaying a vibrant green. Birds will appear, showing us that they’re betting on Vermont, yet again, as a place to successfully raise their young. Male frogs will race to their breeding waters and raise their voices to vie for female attention. After our austere winter, spring is gaudy and raucous. It’s a multi-sensory display of natural resilience.
Our SWEEP community is invited to attend two significant events this year that highlight resilience. On May 4th, 2018, from 3 to 7 pm, SWEEP will hold its spring gathering in partnership with Shelburne Farms, which will offer an excellent professional development opportunity for our members. Shelburne Farms’ Climate Resiliency Fellowship will do a film screening of student work on service learning projects from around New England. This will be followed by a workshop on digital storytelling presented by the Vermont Folklife Center.
Click here to register for this fun gathering! Registration is required so we can plan refreshing snacks. Non-SWEEP members are encouraged to come to the screening and workshop in exchange for a small fee.
During our spring gathering, we’ll discuss the 2018 New England Environmental Education Alliance (NEEEA) Conference scheduled for November 1-3, 2018. The theme of this regional conference, organized by SWEEP, New Hampshire Environmental Education (NHEE), and the Wellborn Ecology Fund, is Coming Together for a Resilient Future. We expect a big crowd this year since the annual NEEEA conference took a break in 2017. At the spring gathering on May 4th, we’ll announce volunteer opportunities that will help us accelerate our conference organizing efforts over the summer and get into high gear for the fall.
I wish you an energizing spring season, inspired by nature’s resurgence.
Warm Regards,
Jenna Guarino
SWEEP Board Chair
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SWEEP Spring Membership Gathering
Click Here to Register!
We hope you can join us Friday, May 4, 2018 at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee from 3 to 7 PM.
SWEEP’s spring meeting is presenting this year in conjunction with Shelburne Farms’ Climate Resiliency Fellowship to showcase educator and student work and community action on climate resilience in several New England states. A goal of the Climate Resiliency Fellowship program is to advance collective impact for climate resilience. The meeting will also include a workshop by the Vermont Folklife Center on digital storytelling, which is a feature of the Climate Resiliency Fellowship projects. Refreshments will be served. Free for SWEEP members.
Another Meeting Highlight: Updates on the planning for the 2018 NEEEA Conference, hosted by SWEEP, NHEE and the Wellborn Ecology Fund!
Save the Date! Mark your calendars for the 2018 NEEEA Conference: Nov. 1-3, 2018, also at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, for this New England-wide conference on environmental education that will bring in experts from all over New England and beyond.
Now, more than ever, the environmental education community needs to come together, share best practices and help each other achieve our goals. Join SWEEP, attend the exciting May 4th gathering, and be part of our growing regional collaboration.
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SWEEP Welcomes New Board Members
During our annual spring gathering, SWEEP votes in its board members. This year, we have two excellent nominees: Chris Runcie, a veteran environmental educator with the Four Winds Nature Institute, and Elizabeth Spinney, the Invasive Plants Coordinator with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. We are thrilled that these two talented individuals have allowed us to nominate them for our board. We also applaud the arrival of Rebecca Roy, who joined our board this winter to fill a mid-term vacancy. Rebecca is the Conservation Education Coordinator for the Vermont State Parks. Our vote during the gathering will include the new folks as well as several continuing board members.
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SWEEP Membership Renewals
This is an exciting year for SWEEP! The spring membership meeting (May 4) will be held in conjunction with a mini-conference and workshop AND this fall (Nov. 1-4) SWEEP is co-hosting the New England regional conference. SWEEP members are eligible for discounts on registration for these events (the spring workshop is free to members!).
Make sure your membership is up-to-date. SWEEP operates on a calendar year, so on December 31 of each year, memberships expire. If you can’t remember if you’ve renewed for 2018, send an email to Rob Anderegg, SWEEP Treasurer, at rob.anderegg@outlook.com.
To renew, fill out the form here or visit our website. Thank you for your continued support of SWEEP!
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CLIMATE RESILIENCY & FEATURED ARTICLES
Climate Resiliency Fellowship & Vermont SWEEP Spring Gathering
By Kerri McAllister, Shelburne Farms
May 4, 2018 3-7pm
Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, Vermont
Climate Resiliency Fellowship: Climate Action Project Presentations & Digital Storytelling Workshop with the Vermont Folklife Center
Our group of educators carefully approached the tide line to observe the huge waves crash in one after another. Our hosts from University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant explained that this wave-washed, sandy area where we were standing had just recently been re-vegetated by their volunteers last week. Since then Hurricane Jose had already made quick work of eroding the shoreline here and washing the plants away before they could fully take root. Jose was a category four hurricane that rode up the east coast last fall between the more destructive hurricanes- Irma and Maria. As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense with changes in our global climate, communities are exploring ways to exercise better preparedness before and resilience after these kinds of events.
Our group of educators from across New England was gathered there on the New Hampshire seacoast for a weekend last fall as part of Shelburne Farm’s Climate Resiliency Fellowship. The goal for the weekend was to explore how climate change is affecting coastal environments. After hearing from expert speakers from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and exploring data related to sea level rise and ocean acidification, we were ready for some hands on work! All of us were excited to be part of the solution and foster some hope and resilience in the face of these dire issues.
SFellows participate in coastal dune restoration and storm resiliency with UNH Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant programs
We planted hundreds of native dune grass plants in an important coastal area that supports recreation, community infrastructure (roads, bridges), and critical wildlife and plant habitat, all of which would be susceptible to coastal erosion and flooding with sea level rise and extreme weather events. The plants’ root systems form an interlocking network below the surface to hold soil in place and reduce erosion and they are naturally adapted to handle influxes of salt water in their habitat.
The educators involved in the Climate Resiliency Fellowship have been gathering for weekends like this over the past year. We have explored the resilience of forest, farm, and urban ecosystems in addition to the coastal environment; participated in citizen science efforts such as gathering data on snowpack and plant phenology; and the teachers have created Next Generation Science Standard-aligned lessons to deepen learning in their classrooms. We have approached the issues of climate change from a variety of disciplines and credited sources and have focused strongly on media use and communication best practices to foster hope, solution-based thinking and community action. During our recent winter gathering the fellows had the unique opportunity to work with the Vermont Folklife Center to learn about tools and methods for documenting their classroom’s climate service learning projects.
Fellows gather on the shores of Lake Champlain for a summer retreat and professional development
The Climate Resiliency Fellowship, Vermont Folklife Center, and the Vermont SWEEP community are gathering together to celebrate the culmination of this program and to host the screening of the fellow’s multimedia presentations on their classroom’s climate service learning projects! Come find out what hopeful and amazing climate action projects students have been engaged in with their communities across New England!
Please join us at at Lake Morey Resort on May 4, 2018 from 3-7 for a joint event between Vermont SWEEP and Shelburne Farm’s Climate Resiliency Fellowship!
Light snacks will be served after the screening and following the presentations a digital storytelling workshop will be offered by the Vermont Folklife Center. This creative professional learning opportunity will provide the audience with the tools and know-how to create your own audio and visual stories for documentation, grant reporting, social media, sharing with funders, creating trainings and instructional videos, and more!
Register for the Spring Gathering here!
Want to learn more? Check out:
Climate Resiliency Fellowship Website
Climate Resiliency Fellowship Summer Gathering Video
Photo Credits: Courtney Ley Photography; Kerri McAllister, Amy Rougier
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Restorative Practices Increase School Resiliency
By Jennifer Guarino
SWEEP Board Chair
Ecotone Education
I have spent my career as an environmental educator. I love connecting people to nature and educating them about the dynamic ways that natural systems perpetuate life on Earth. Mounting evidence indicates that human systems are degrading natural systems, yet our society can’t commit to fostering environmental health. This lack of action is maddening given that we have access to ever-more-sophisticated ecological and technical knowledge. I believe that unmet human needs – for physical well-being, supportive relationships, and ways to make meaningful contributions to our world – create conflict between people and sabotage our motivation to arrest ecological damage and restore the healthy functioning of our biosphere.
Feeling that I needed to address the conflict-prone element of human experience in order to contribute to a healthier future, I went back to school in 2016 to obtain a graduate certificate in mediation. As a neutral party, a mediator helps people in conflict find common ground and move toward resolution. One area of this multi-faceted field that captured my attention was restorative practices, a methodology that sees each person as a valued member of the community, and asserts that meaningful inclusion in the community encourages him or her to take care of it. In contrast, people who feel rejected by the community are apt to turn their isolation into anger, frustration, shame, and/or fear, which can increase conflict. I was thrilled to discover that Vermont has a vibrant network of practitioners implementing restorative practices in schools.
A school is an institution of interacting systems. A small system, like a classroom, has many independent functions, but its “walls” are porous; visitors come in and students go out to participate in other elements of the school and community. Teachers work with school administrators and outside professionals to develop curricula and maintain high standards. Parents and community members participate in various school activities, importing their own experiences and perspectives. Cafeteria staff, bus drivers, librarians, and other workers likewise contribute to the school’s culture.
A resilient school builds and supports constructive relationships among all of its stakeholders and works to repair damaged relationships in order to maintain full functionality and achieve its goals. Restorative outcomes include (from Defining Restorative, by Ted Wachtel, International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2013.):
reducing crime, violence, and bullying
improving human behavior
strengthening civil society
providing effective leadership
restoring relationships
repairing harm
As seen in the figure below, a restorative school environment can be represented as a pyramid with three tiers:
Tier 1: School-wide prevention practices. (the broad base of the pyramid) When restorative practices are implemented across all aspects of the school environment, members feel valued, relationships are constructive, and many friction points between people are addressed quickly and efficiently to minimize disturbance and maximize student learning.
Tier 2: Managing difficulties. (the middle level of the pyramid) In any institution, some conflicts can’t be avoided and must be actively managed. When schools use restorative practices, many conflicts can be addressed proactively so that they don’t erupt into serious issues that consume limited resources and strain relationships.
Tier 3: Intensive intervention. (the top of the pyramid) Even high-functioning schools experience conflicts that can cause significant harm. In these instances, intense intervention is required to keep people safe and address the big disturbances created. Many schools find that the incidence of serious harm is reduced, sometimes dramatically so, when restorative justice techniques are employed to acknowledge the harm, address the needs of the victims, and engage the community in creating resolutions that repair the harm. The offender is held accountable for the damage she/he caused and stakeholders focus on reintegrating the offender as a valued member of the community.
A Restorative Practices School Environment
(From Restorative Justice: A Working Guide for Our Schools, by the Alameda County School Health Services Coalition, San Leandro, CA. 2011.)
If you would like to learn more about restorative practices in schools or share your own experiences with this approach, I would love to hear from you! Please contact me at jguarino556@gmail.com.
Also check out this brand-new, Vermont-grown resource: Whole-School Restorative Approach Resource Guide, by Jon Kidde, published by the Vermont Agency of Education (December 2017).
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The Health of Vermont’s Future Hardwood Forests is At Risk
By Lynn Levine
Environmental Educator
Consulting Forester
Yes, there are insect and disease issues that can dramatically affect our forests. And, yes, climate change will, over time, change the composition of our forests.
But, there is a problem that we can more easily do something about. Simply stated, there are too many deer above the carrying capacity of the land in most of Vermont’s woods. It is a hidden problem that even nature-oriented people walk right past.
Below, you will see two different saplings. Below, you will see two different saplings. If you look at these two examples, on the right is a white ash and on the left is a sugar maple that have been both been browsed by deer.
Each white tag indicates where the deer have browsed the sapling. The sugar maple, about a foot high, is 11 years old. The white ash, about three feet tall is 25 years old.
Every time you see a little curve (change in direction), or when the sapling splits into two, it means that the deer ate the leader bud. What do you think these saplings will look like when they grow into trees? Actually, because the deer come back to feed every year or so, these saplings will probably never grow up to be a tree. Every day each deer eats 10-15 lbs. of twigs. Yes, that’s Each Deer and Every day!
The next time you are outside, you can see for yourself. Now that you see the pictures of the sapling. Look down when you are in the forest, whether walking, skiing or hunting.
Don’t let abundant straight trees fool you. They are most likely beech and black birch, which we don’t want to dominate our next forest (where will maple syrup come from?). Instead of sugar maple and oak there will be beech, black birch and more and more invasives. Only 1% of beech trees do not become diseased and die prematurely. And, a monoculture of black birch is not healthy and is not anything like our current magnificent northern hardwood forests.
Below, is a map showing deer damage throughout the state. The darker the orange color, the worse the browsing damage, as measured by Federal Inventory.
So, as an environmental educator, you may ask “What can I do?” Here are a few thoughts:Talk to your students about the issue.
Take your students on a field trip to look at deer browse conditions (go to what is currently a hardwood area).
Speak out to the decision-makers listed below.
According to Nick Fortin, the Vermont Deer Project Leader “The only way to reduce the population of deer is to harvest antlerless deer (Yes, does).”
The ultimate decision-maker is the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board (composed of one volunteer member per county) does not seem to agree that there are too many deer. They determine how many hunting permits are issued for bucks and antlerless deer. Many of the F&W Board members (all who hunt) base their judgement on how many deer they see, rather than on our on-the-ground method of studying the extent of deer browse. It is critical that all Vermonters, including hunters, understand that the future of Vermont’s recreational, maple syrup and timber industries are at risk in many parts of Vermont.
These decision-makers must hear from environmental educators that, in order to have a healthy forest, we must allow more hunting of does.
Contact the Representative from your county. Here is a link to a list of those Board members or call Nick Fortin, VT Deer Project Leader (802) 786-3860 or email Nick.Fortin@vermont.gov.
We all want healthy forests in Vermont.
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NEWS
Photo by Ellen Bodin
Spring News From Four Winds Nature Institute
Four Winds’ Nature-based Play and Learning- Early Childhood Professional Development
Nature-based play in early childhood allows children to investigate natural phenomena, generate meaningful questions, develop problem solving and communication skills, and foster a sense of place. In 2018 Four Winds is facilitating several early childhood and elementary education professional learning communities (PLCs) around Vermont where participants venture outside, learn about nature-based play and learning, and investigate best practices in developing rich outdoor learning opportunities for young children. New PLCs are starting up this summer! For more information, visit Four Winds or contact Jen@fwni.org.
Summer Learning and Four Winds
Photo by Jen Brown
Check out the VT Higher Ed Collaborative’s Early Childhood Institute at Castleton University this July. Four Winds is leading a course entitled “Building Peaceful Communities through Nature Based Learning and STEM Education Strategies” for early childhood professionals. We’ll focus on how children make sense of and connect with their world and with each other through nature-based play and learning and through science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). We’ll discuss what STEM is, how it is connected to nature-based play, and what it all means to our teaching practice. Let the early childhood professionals in your life know about this summer’s professional development opportunity.
The Four Winds Nature Program Continues to Grow
With 1,500 community volunteers in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York participating in the Nature Program, we are clearly committed to opening the door to discovery in nature! And this year we extended our reach into Maine. The Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta, Maine became a new Nature Program town in September. Now the volunteer coordinators in that town are working to recruit nearby schools into the program to build a culture of community engagement in natural science and place-based education in the area. We’re looking forward to working with local environmental educators to create some new Nearby Nature units on tidepools and shore birds!
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A New Book by Lynn Levine
The Secret Life of Ferns: A Pocket Guide for the Common Ferns of the Northeast, by SWEEP member Lynn Levine, is an easy-to-use guide to 26 ferns, and will be available this summer at area bookstores. It includes hints for identification, interesting notes and lifelike illustrations of ferns.
Lynn Levine is also author of two tracking books: Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide and Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Pocket Guide, and two children books: Snow Secrets and Is it Time, Yet?
Briony Morrow-Cribbs is the illustrator for Wicked Plants.
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A New Home for Northern Woodlands
The headquarters for the Center for Northern Woodlands Education, the publishers of Northern Woodlands magazine, has moved over the river to Lyme, NH! SWEEP board member Emily Rowe is on staff at Northern Woodlands (shown in front of the new office in the pic), and would be happy to greet you if you happen to be in the Upper Valley and want a tour of the new digs. Check out the From the Center column in the magazine’s latest edition for details.
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A New Book by Michael Caduto
Announcing publication of The Garden of Wisdom: Earth Tales from the Middle East – a new children’s book edited by SWEEP member Michael J. Caduto, creator and co-author (with Joseph Bruchac) of the New York Times best-selling Keepers of the Earth® series. The Garden of Wisdom was borne of a decade-long collaboration between more than 50 individuals and 20 organizations in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine-including teachers, conservationists, and storytellers working across geographical and political borders to foster peaceful coexistence. These traditional stories, gathered directly from oral tradition, show children how to live in harmony with others and in kinship with Earth: from protecting endangered species, habitats, and water quality, to the virtues of truth, justice, gratitude, and generosity.
Stories are arranged by theme: Animals, Plants, Friendship, Stewardship, and Wisdom.
Exclusive sections for parents and teachers reveal the sources of the stories, suggest lessons to teach from each story, and share the journey behind this unique book.
Includes a firsthand account of nature and environmental issues in the Middle East.
Recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s prestigious Brimstone Award for Applied Storytelling, in recognition of the transformative properties of storytelling on individuals and communities.
MICHAEL J. CADUTO is an award-winning author of 20 books in natural history, environmental education, climate change education, and Earth stewardship, and a master performer of stories and original music. His books include the international bestselling Keepers of the Earth® series (creator/co-author), Pond and Brook, Catch the Wind-Harness the Sun, and Riparia’s River. Look for his books and programs here.
ODELIA LIPHSHIZ is an accomplished illustrator and artist based in Israel. She creates worlds of fantasy and wonder for children, and for everyone who is a child at heart. Odelia has illustrated children’s books for A.A Milne, Nurit Zarchi, and more. Says Odelia, “I am a peace seeker, dreamer, and a great believer.” More of her works can be found here.
Green Heart Books, Reading, Vermont, USA. 156 pages, full color story illustrations and photographs of nature in the Middle East. 8 ½ x 8 ½. Ages 7 and up. Hardcover $26.95 (U.S.). ISBN: 978-0-9727518-5-8. EBOOK $9.99, ISBN: 978-0-9727518-3-4 (Digital formats include Apple iBook & Amazon Kindle.)
TO ORDER: Signed copies can be ordered directly from the editor here. Also available widely through major online retail stores, in both hardcover and digital eBook formats.
REVIEWS:
“Animals by nature know no borders, at least not by their own construction. Nature unites us, and The Garden of Wisdom is a fine place for us to meet.” -Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle
“Featuring Middle Eastern parables with a touch of Aesop about them, Michael Caduto’s Garden of Wisdom rewards the reader over and over.” -Gregory Maguire, New York Timesbest-selling author of Wicked, Mirror Mirror, Leaping Beauty, and After Alice.
“Each story is told from the perspective of a unique culture of the Middle East, and yet tugs at familiar strings we all remember from stories told to us as children, reminding us that the earth and humanity’s story are to be cherished and celebrated.” -Magda Nassef (Cairo, Egypt), Consultant for the United Nations Environment Programme
“The Garden of Wisdom is a beautiful way to enter the cultures of the Middle East through local folk stories, wonderful illustrations, and gorgeous photos. I will share this book widely to help promote mutual respect and understanding in the world. The Garden of Wisdom will make a perfect gift for every child and ‘child at heart’ in your life!” -Sharón Benheim, Coordinator, Martin Springer Center for Conflict Studies, Ben Gurion University (Beersheba, Israel)
“The wisdom of this book is a gift which reminds us that, wherever we are, the power of nature is ever at hand to guide us to a better place through the magnificent stories we tell.” -Bill Kilburn, Program Manager, Back To Nature Network, Ottawa, Ontario (of the global Children and Nature Movement)
Sales of this book will help support translations into Arabic & Hebrew.
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EVENTS