The New Hampshire Environmental Educators presents awards annually to individuals who stand out as exemplary in their ability to engage students in environmental studies in lasting and meaningful ways. The awards are presented in three categories: elementary school (K-6), middle/secondary school (7-12), and non-formal educators. Recognition of this year’s award winners occurred at the NHEE annual conference on March 10, 2010. Congratulations to this year’s outstanding NH environmental educators!
The Environmental Educator of the Year award in the Non-formal category is being given to Wendy Schorr.
Wendy worked in the Manchester City Schools teaching deaf students for 16 years before she began working for the Amoskeag Fishways in 1998. Since then she has personally reached nearly 35,000 children through school programs, fish tours and public events.
As an educator, Wendy has written and taught curriculum relating to fish, watersheds, urban wildlife and other conservation topics. She has coordinated the Adopt a Salmon program, providing teachers with instruction and students with an understanding of the life cycle of an anadromous fish and the importance of stewardship of resources. Her indoor classes are usually filled with live animals and natural objects. When outdoors she encourages all ages to discover and explore. She will even go into a stream in February in search of macro-invertebrates. Her compassion for animals is illustrated by her enthusiasm for Lamprey Appreciation Day and her role as the wrangler of the Fishway’s resident rattlesnake. Puppets and games made by Wendy help children engage in learning in creative ways. She captivates with a quiet approach that allows students to discover their own mysteries and answers, and serves as a stellar role model for learning to love and care for the earth.
When it comes to environmental stewardship, Wendy is a living example of the principles she teaches. She and her husband live in a solar powered home, built from wood off their land. They raise much of their own food in organic gardens and orchards. Wendy has served on the Deerfield Conservation Commission and various town committees related to environmental issues.
Several of us have had the pleasure of serving on the NHEE board with Wendy. She also served as co-chair of the Program Committee when NH hosted the extremely successful 2008 NEEEA Conference.
In each of these roles Wendy has brought an incredible attention to detail, creativity, and an appreciation of team work. To quote from her nomination form, “She is a quiet leader and mentor, is modest, self effacing, talented, and treasured”. We are so privileged to offer this award to Wendy Schorr.
This year’s recipient for the NH Environmental Educator of the Year for the Elementary School level is Carol Foley. Carol’s may be a familiar face because she likely holds the record for attending more environmental education conferences and workshops than anyone else in New England.
Though Carol currently works as the Special Education and Math Coordinator and Coach at the Ellis School in Fremont, she has held many positions during her career. She has worked directly with children as well as with other educators. Recently she led teachers in grades 1-6 through a 15-month professional development process to vertically align her district’s science curriculum and match it with the NH Science Frameworks. This enabled science to be taught regularly in each grade level, something not previously done. At other schools Carol has breathed new life into science curriculum with many interactive activities that stretch beyond the typical lessons. Her classrooms were often home to snakes, frogs, turtles, rodents and birds, all of which became part of her teaching team as her students saw their biology lessons come alive.
Carol’s passion for learning and sharing is illustrated by the fact that she is a facilitator for PLT (1998), WILD (1988), and WET (1999). She has helped bring these EE tools to hundreds of other classroom teachers around NH. She has conducted many other workshops for NH Audubon, NHSTA, Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and others.
Carol also reaches beyond the classroom through work in non-formal settings. By bridging these two sectors she has enriched both areas. She has served on the NHEE board providing insight into school needs and issues. At various jobs, Carol has shared her skills with organizations including NH Audubon, Amoskeag Fishways, Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, the SEE Science Center Museum, White Mountain National Forest, McAuliffe Planetarium, Montshire Museum, Boston Museum of Science, and the Swift Water Girl Scout Council.
Carol is receiving this award not because of one specific project, event or talent, but because of her continued dedication to engaging students in environmental studies, her breadth of experience with methods and audiences, her unending interest in gaining and sharing new skills, and her commitment to connecting people with the natural world. It is with great pleasure that I present this award to Carol Foley.
This year’s secondary award winner is Bruce Gorrill from Brewster Academy in Wolfboro, NH.
He was nominated by Peter Hess, the Dean of Studies at Brewster.
Bruce has been the Science Department Chair at Brewster for the past 18 years. During that time he has shown his commitment to Environmental Education in many ways. Bruce started and currently heads the Environmental Club which initiated a recycling program, conducts Earth Day activities, and campus wide clean up days. He designed a Freshwater Ecology course in which his students conduct weekly field studies, design research projects, and create podcasts to report out their findings.
Bruce is a firm believer that the focus should be on the process of science instead of straight facts. His curriculum uses 21st century skills and web 2.0 technologies to ensure his students are maximizing the benefits of technology. He is a role model to his peers in his willingness to grow and change with the current trends in education. He was recently involved in a 3 year NSF study on technology in science education.
Bruce inspires his students to make real changes in their lives. Students from his class designed and presented to the head of schools a schoolwide project were his students challenged their classmates to reduce their water consumption. Water use data was analyzed by dorm from water bills obtained from the business office.
Bruce also shows his personal commitment to the environment by working with local restaurant owners to provide him with fuel for his veggie powered car.
It is our pleasure to present this year’s secondary award to Bruce Gorrill.