Loudoun County Environmental Educators Address Needs for Collaboration

Leesburg – Nearly 40 non-formal environmental educators from groups including Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Project Learning Tree, Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun County Environmental Health and Claude Moore Park, gathered for the first time on April 13 to explore how their collective efforts can enhance life in Loudoun County, and better preserve its precious natural resources and historic value.

Speakers offered perspectives from their own experiences at the state, local and school levels. Suzie Gilley, Wildlife Education Coordinator/Project WILD State Coordinator, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, described Virginia’s official environmental education initiative, called Virginia Naturally. Bruce McGranahan, Environmental Program Coordinator, Loudoun County, Virginia Department of Planning, summarized the needs and initiatives of the County and Odette D. Scovel, Instructional Supervisor, Science, Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), described aspects of environmental education in LCPS and offered suggestions for programs that would fit well with the science curriculum.

Joanna A. Cornell, Watershed Specialist, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, shared her doctoral thesis program at George Mason University with attendees. NEST (Neighborhood Ecological Stewardship Training) is a dynamic program that brings together area residents with public education programs to strengthen their awareness of their local environment.

Jennifer McDonnell, Executive Director, Capital Region, Earth Force, presented her experiences as a volunteer member of the District of Columbia’s Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC). The DCEEC is a coalition of individuals, local groups and national organizations, whose mission is to promote environmental education and stewardship for the District’s youth.

After listening to the array of topics and insights, participants brainstormed opportunities for collaborative partnerships among environmental education (EE) providers and discussed ways to enhance the collaboration with the school system. Brainstorm items included compiling a directory of EE providers for teachers and collaborating with K-12 sports programs to include a community stewardship component.

Small group discussions identified challenges facing EE providers such as funding, marketing and reaching multi-cultural audiences. Participants created action items based on the challenges that can be taken to plan and organize projects that will benefit the community and Loudoun County schools. One major action item is the creation of a Loudoun County environmental education coalition that will increase communication between EE providers and create opportunities for the organizations to combine their resources.

Cornell said, “This conference was a critically important first step in facilitating collaborative partnerships to support environmental education in Loudoun. Participants demonstrated the tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience already in place in Loudoun. What needs to happen next is a continuation of support so that we can all work together to educate and inspire both children and adults about the importance of becoming better stewards of our local resources. Each one of us can make a difference.”

A standing committee will meet in June to expand on the ideas generated from the conference. A second Loudoun County Environmental Education conference will take place next year. 

                                                                     

Click here to view all Loudoun Water news.