Workshops include AM coffee and tea, lunch, and an afternoon break (unless otherwise indicated)

All workshops are at Century II Convention Center and connecting Hyatt Regency Hotel.

All workshops are 8:30 am until 4 pm (unless otherwise noted).

Overcoming Barriers to Non-formal EE: How to Get into Schools                    $57

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

Learn from other non-formal EE organizations’ best practices to develop a strategy for cracking the tough nut of how to work with formal school systems in this age of standards and accountability.

Led by: Jeanne Troy, Alice Ferguson Foundation, and Kathe Crowley Conn, NatureNet and the Aldo Leopold Nature Center; others to be announced

Schoolyard Native Habitats on the Prairie (depart at 7:30 am, return at 4:30 pm) $50

Conservation Education

Dyck Arboretum of the Plains, USFWS Schoolyard Habitat, and UW-Madison Earth Partnership for Schools -- along with area teachers and students -- will host schoolyard visits in Wichita and neighboring communities. Participate in prairie-related educational activities and discuss common qualities and best practices of outstanding projects.

Led by: Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong, Earth Partnership for Schools; Brad Guhr, Dyck Arboretum on the Plains; Rick Hall, Earth Partnership for Schools; Karen Kelly Mullin, MAEOE; Carolyn Kolstad, USFWS; and Libby McCann, Antioch University New England

$50

Music and Arts – Build It and They Will Come, Part 2                            $50

Art, Culture, and Environmental Education

Spend a creative day and take home two delightful treasures. Learn an ancient paper marbling technique to create a journal in which to reflect on your conference experiences. While the paper’s drying, a gifted music teacher will teach you to build a dulcimer from inexpensive materials. While the dulcimer’s being tuned, you’ll be guided in writing poetry for personal reflection and song lyrics. Practice simple tunes to perform for participants entering the opening session. You’re a star!

Led by: Ira and Charlotte Erwin, Working Artist Studio; John Shortt; Joe Lombardi, Hendrix College

Urban Environments: Professional Development to Engage Youth in Experiential Learning Using Garden Mosaics                                                                                                $147

Art, Culture, and Environmental Education

Presentation and hands-on demonstrations will acquaint participants with Garden Mosaics, an international and national award-winning program model and curricular resources. GM is used to engage youth in community garden and neighborhood settings emphasizing science education and intergenerational cultural learning.

Led by: Emily Gunter Gayton, Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC

Poetry's Vital Role in Environmental Education                                     $92

Art, Culture, and Environmental Education

An opportunity for participants to share poems about the environment, as well as those by favorite poets who inspired them to join the environmental movement. Discussion will center around poetry's vital role in environmental education.

Led by: Diana Woodcock, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar

Service-Learning 101:Getting Started Designing and Implementing Environmental Service-Learning                                                                                                           $82

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

Service-learning is an ideal approach for environmental educators to teach civic responsibility and address state learning guidelines. Explore the basics-- what it is (and isn't), why it's important, how to do it--viewed through the prism of environmental education.

Led by: Sandra Ryack-Bell, WATERMARKS Education Consulting Services, and

Evelyn Christian, Earth Force

Service-Learning 102: Advanced Service-Learning for Environmental Educators  $77

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

Designed for experienced service-learning practitioners, this session will explore how to move from good to great—how to make service-learning less about building butterfly gardens and more about engaging young people as catalysts for long-term changes in environmental policies and practices.

Led by: Jerry Pharr

One-Day Introduction to Education for Sustainability (EfS)                                           $47

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

This full-day hands-on, interactive workshop introduces participants to the concepts, principles, and practices of Education for Sustainability (EfS), drawing from important concepts in systems thinking, sustainable economics, and the science of sustainability.

Led by: Melinda Salazar, the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

Celebrating Conservation: Planning Special Events and Festivals for Conservation $147

Conservation Education

This hands-on workshop will provide field-tested tools for planning festival logistics and curriculum, explore a variety of successful "model" celebrations, introduce national curriculum and planning resources, and facilitate an opportunity to network with celebration organizers from across the nation.

Led by: Aaron Morehouse, Catalina Island Conservancy

Learning with Nature: Environmental Education Ideas for Early Childhood **note half day 1:00 – 4:30 **                                                                                                           $57

Early Childhood Education

Discover engaging practical hands-on ideas that can be infused throughout all areas of the curriculum to support the nature-child connection and help you effectively provide age-appropriate environmental education for preschool and early elementary age children.

Led by: Susan Wirth, Arbor Day Foundation, and Julie Rose, Dimensions Educational Research Foundation

A Walk-About in Wichita                                                                               $30

Environmental Justice, Environmental Health, and Climate Change

Explore the linkages between climate change, environmental health, and environmental justice through an experience that integrates theory, reflection, and application in an urban blight tour of Wichita, Kansas, with local health, education, and organizing groups.

Led by: David Ruble, Virginia DEQ

Corporate Lands for Learning (CLL): Business and Industry Partners for Effective Site-Based Education Programs                                                                                              $71

Conservation Education 

Explore opportunities that allow students to apply classroom concepts to the real world and our place in the ecosystem. The Wildlife Habitat Council’s member corporations with highly successful CLL programs will explain how and why they support these initiatives. Take a field trip to Occidental Petroleum/Glen Spring’s Holdings’ Prairie Wetlands Conservation Area. Please wear appropriate walking shoes and dress for inclement weather.

Led by: Fred Delisle, BASF; Donald Fay, Essex County School District; John Hambrose, Alliance Landfill; Tracy Bryant, CEMEX; Greg Davies, Occidental Chemicals; Thelma Redick, Wildlife Habitat Council; and Debbie Figueras-Cano, Waste Management

Be the Best! What EE Resource Reviews Can Do for You                                           $50

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

Learn to use the Guidelines for Excellence to assess EE resources. Then choose an option: bring your resource and start an online self-review (computers and guidance provided, submission fees waived), or train and join the national team of peer reviewers so you can provide valuable feedback to others.

Led by: Lori Mann, NAAEE Resource Reviews Advisory Council

No Child Left Inside – Is Your State Ready?                                                   $50

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

A major component of No Child Left Inside (NCLI) involves the development of state environmental literacy plans. Learn how your state can prepare for NCLI and how you can use the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education standards as a foundation for your state’s environmental literacy plan.

Led by: Bora Simmons, National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, and Anita Kraemer, eeEvaluations

Affiliates' Workshop                                                                         $50

Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

This workshop is for leaders of state, provincial, and regional EE associations. The focus will be on capacity building. We will consider Affiliates’ strategic plans, development plans, and other types of plans to build stronger organizations and a stronger Affiliate Network.
Led by: Affiliate Network Steering Committee

Environmental Magic: Tricks for Improving the Environment...just like MAGIC!  $125

Art, Culture, and Environmental Education

In 1994, two professional magicians created the Environmental Magic Kit, winning EPA recognition for enhancing awareness of air quality, water quality, and waste management. It's "Magic with a Message" and you can learn it!

Led by: Kent Cummins, Magic Hotline, and Chris Walden, Walden Magic Productions

Special Thursday Workshop 8:30 am – 11:30 am and 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm  
NCATE/NAAEE Teacher Preparation Standards Training 
Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education

Critical information university teacher preparation programs need to meet the national EE standards adopted by NCATE/NAAEE. Session will include in-depth review of the new standards, strategies for incorporating them into curriculum, sample assessments, hands-on activities, and exemplary models.

Led by NAAEE Pre-Service Advisory Council members and Robin Marion of NCATE

Cost: $75 (includes coffee and snacks) in addition to one-day Thursday registration or full conference registration (either of which includes lunch)