More program managers were brought in who focused on K-12 education, adult education, and then partnerships with business and community, but over the years cuts have brought the staff down to the two, she said, adding that they have worked really hard “to form partnerships with other groups so that we could operate a large statewide program with just two people.”
Tolley said that the office partnered with 10 other states to develop the custom form to add events to the calendar, jobs board and grants.
“The main program we run is the Environmental Education Certification Program, and that’s for classroom teachers, informal educators like park rangers or those at science centers, science museums, or botanical gardens, to name a few.
“We really are set up to serve teachers and educators throughout the state, and we kind of have used the program to build the capacity across the state for other small counties and big counties to offer environmental ed programming,” she said.
Tolley said last week that there were 600 currently working to earn certification, and there are more than 700 who maintain active status with the program.
The self-paced effort requires educators to complete seven instructional workshops, 50 hours of outdoor environmental education experiences and 30 hours of experiences that promote awareness of the state’s environmental education resources to earn the certification. Certified educators are required to complete 50 hours of continuing education every five years to maintain an active status.
The office also has partnered with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to host livestreamed talks, and with the state Department of Public Instruction to cohost gatherings of classroom teachers and nonformal educators like those at science education facilities and offers a K-12 environmental literacy plan for teachers.
The state office collaborates with the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, an organization that has tailored many of the programs and workshops to meet certification requirements.
Wiggins said that, since it’s just him and Tolley, they don’t have the capacity to teach workshops, but the nonprofit has designed what it offers to meet certification program guidelines, “That’s been a great partnership.”
Renee Strnad, Project Learning Tree state coordinator whose office is housed in N.C. State University Extension Forestry, is a past president of the nonprofit. She directs the environmental education curriculum, which provides professional development to K-12 educators to help them implement environmental education in their classrooms.
Strnad was hosting a Sustainable Forestry Teachers Experience workshop Tuesday in Alamance County when she took a few minutes to speak to Coastal Review about how much she values the environmental education office.
“For me, the whole idea that the office serves as this clearinghouse, as a one-stop shop, helps me advertise my programs to educators broadly. It’s very difficult to get information out to teachers directly.”
She added that the office has close ties with the Department of Public Instruction, which ensures that nonformal educators are aware of the newest language or pedagogy that they need to help teachers include environmental education in their classroom. The office serves as a “connection point for all those state agencies that are also trying to reach K-12 educators, kind of that bridge to the Department of Public Instruction,” she said.
Strnad acknowledged that there is criticism about the intentions of environmental education, but the certification program “outlines what good environmental education is, that you’re not taking a stance.”
The educator learns how to offer information that helps people think critically about issues and understand that a solution to an environmental problem in their community might not work in another community because of varied factors. The program also helped legitimize environmental education as a field, and many states have used North Carolina’s EE certification program as a model and a basis for theirs.
“We were the first state in the country to actually do an environmental education certification program, which was mandated by the state with the Environmental Education Act,” in 1993, she said. The environmental education program formalized a way for people to call themselves environmental educators.
It’s sad knowing that the state has this amazing history and other states have looked to North Carolina as a model program, and the funding is completely being cut, Strnad said.
The education team at the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, are all certified. Education Director Sara Hallas, who joined the nonprofit organization in 2008, said that the state program helped shape her as an educator.
“Since I moved here from out of state to start working, it greatly impacted my ability to refine my skills and knowledge about the NC coast and its unique habitats. It was a tremendous resource that helped me build a set of teaching tools when I was just starting my career; these tools are still useful today,” Hallas said in an email. “Additionally, they provide continued support through networking with other EE professionals across the state. The certification is well designed and requires continued education hours, which have helped me stay sharp and continue learning new things! I hope they can find a solution to continue being a resource for North Carolina.”
Reprinted from CoastalReview.org.