Taking a Stand
Read inspired writing by Charlotte Malcolmson, age 12, a student in Ktunaxa Territory (Nelson, BC).
Posts
Our newest Facilitator of Learning reflects on their journey to this new role
We are thrilled that Ascher Goodman will be offering new and improved versions of our Climate and Place program in the Lower Mainland!
Outdoor learning for all: strengthening a trusted solution
Dive deeper into the importance of outdoor learning and find out how we can make nature education accessible for youth across British Columbia!
10 fun nature-based activities to try this summer!
To get summer started off right, here are some nature-based activities to support you and your family in having a creative season!
Embarking on the nature connection journey
By Environmental Educator Kirsten Dallimore
October 2018
The days have begun to cool down and the rain has returned to nurture the plants and animals as we welcome a new season—a new journey. I welcome you back for another exciting and inspiring school year full of possibility for wonderful nature connection moments with students across B.C.
I’m pleased to be returning for my 5th school year and I’m curious who I will meet this year and what I will learn and be able to share.
Something I’ve been reminded of recently is that in order to model and share nature connection with kids, I need to embark on my own nature connection journey. That’s why this summer I was part of a one-week deep connection workshop called the “Art of Mentoring” that took place on Salt Spring Island.
During that time I was reminded of the core routines: offering gratitude, the importance of sharing my story with someone, and the “sit spot.” A sit spot provides time for students to find their own place in nature, sit quietly, and take time to observe and reflect on what is happening around them. Sit spots are an ideal way to start off your nature play time each time you go outside as a class. Observing seasonal changes throughout the year at their sit spot will enable your students to develop a deeper nature connection to a place.
I encourage all of you to try out these core routines in your own nature connection journey and see how they fit into your life. The key question to ask yourself is: what would make this year more meaningful for my journey out in nature?
Kirsten sitting above the Peace River Valley
You might be wondering what’s new this year in Education at Sierra Club BC.
I am excited to announce that my fellow Environmental Educator Amira and I are working collaboratively to develop and deliver our education programs across the province. When we visit a school together there will be greater capacity to reach more classes and make a deeper impact in that one school community. That’s exciting, and I am looking forward to experiencing the impacts this will make in schools, specifically in the conversations that teachers have with one another when they share their stories about their workshop and what they did with their class when we visited.
We have been busy preparing our programs for a relaunch of our Going Wild! workshops. In the spring, we were fortunate to have our programs go through a formal evaluation process based on specific environmental education standards. We were delighted for the feedback that our programming is exemplary overall.
A throwback to ten years ago in the Education program
The workshops continue to focus on planting seeds to sprout environmental stewards through a holistic, shared lens of Indigenous teachings and scientific understanding. Highlights include greater time spent outdoors, Indigenous teachings intertwined throughout the workshops, greater hands-on exploration time, and a focus on building environmental stewards throughout our province.
This year our Education program is celebrating our 20th birthday. It’s a fabulous time for us all to reflect on the role we have played in supporting children to spend more time outdoors connecting with nature, where our efforts continue in the present and into the future keeping in mind the future generations.
I would like to personally thank all of you for your continued support for the education team at Sierra Club BC.
Feature image by Brynne Morrice.
Back to school: Our 20th year of nature-based learning
By James Davis, Education Program Manager
September 2018
Welcome back to a new school year! September marks 20 years of Sierra Club BC’s work with schools across the province to help students build relationships with their natural surroundings – a major accomplishment. Stay tuned to hear how we’ll be celebrating this milestone.
In the meantime, after a fairly quiet summer, things are buzzing again here in the Education Program at Sierra Club BC.
Kirsten and Amira just returned from their summer jobs and are busy working on revisions to our Nature and Play, Lifecycles and Ecosystems, and People and Plants workshops.
These program enhancements are inspired by valuable suggestions that we received from a local environmental education consultant who conducted an evaluation of our programming back in the spring. We were thrilled with her feedback that our programming is exemplary overall and we look forward to testing out refined versions of these workshops this fall.
After a successful pilot project during the spring, we are also excited that Amira will continue to facilitate French language versions of our Nature and Play (Kindergarten) and Lifecycles and Ecosystems (Grades 1-2) workshops!
Interested in having Kirsten or Amira visit your school to lead nature-based workshops for your students? Just head over to https://sierraclub.bc.ca/education/k-8-going-wild-programs to read our workshop descriptions and then click on the “Request a Workshop” button to fill out the request form.
On behalf of the Education Program and the entire Sierra Club BC team, thanks for all you do to help students connect with the natural environment. We look forward to getting outside and learning with you soon!
